Page 189 - The Dinosaur Book and Other Wonders of the Prehistoric World (DK-Smithsonian)
P. 189
The giant
dog Epicyon
weighed as
much as a modern
grizzly
Epicyon
bear.
A powerful, heavily
built predator, Epicyon
was about 5 ft (1.5 m) long. Powerful predators
Armed with bone-
crushing jaws that
were studded with sharp
teeth, Hyaenodon could
easily pierce flesh.
Smilodon
Hyaenodon
Smilodon would
have used its
long, saw-edged
saber teeth like
daggers to stab
and kill its prey.
The front legs were unusually
powerful, and would have been
used for grappling big animals
to the ground.
knifelike canine teeth for stabbing their big One of the biggest land predators
prey. Other carnivores, such as the massively that ever existed was the wolflike
built short-faced bear Arctodus and the bone- Andrewsarchus, which lived about
crushing dog Epicyon, probably relied on brute 40 million years ago—a hoofed animal
strength to overcome their prey. But creodonts whose closest living relatives are
and carnivores were not the only hunters. wild pigs. 187
US_186-187_Powerful_Predators.indd 187 10/04/18 3:35 PM

