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





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