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Tetraconodon Pig Jaw #3

$995.00

Pig Fossils

1 in stock

SKU: TetraconodonPJ3 Categories: , , Tags: , , ,

Description

  • Tetraconodon sp.
  • Giant Pig Jaw
  • Middle Miocene
  • Found in Myanmar (Burma) between India and Thailand
  • This EXTREMELY RARE SPECIMEN measures approx. 7″ x 4 3/16″ and contains 3 teeth.  The socket where the pigs tusk would have been is present in this specimen.

Tetraconodontinae is an extinct subfamily of the pig family (Suidae). Fossils have been found in Africa and Asia.  Suidae is the biological family to which pigs belong. In addition to numerous fossil species, up to sixteen extant species are currently recognized, classified into between four and eight genera. The family includes the domestic pig, Sus scrofa domesticus or Sus domesticus, in addition to numerous species of wild pig, such as the babirusa Babyrousa babyrussa and the warthog Phacochoerus aethiopicus. All suids, or swine, are native to the Old World, ranging from Asia and its islands, to Europe, and Africa.  The earliest fossil suids date from the
Oligocene epoch of Asia, and their descendants reached Europe during the Miocene. Several fossil species are known, and show adaptations to a wide range of different diets, from strict herbivory to possible carrion-eating (in Tetraconodon).  Two new species of Tetraconodon, T. irramagnus sp. nov. and T. irramedius sp. nov. were discovered in the late Miocene of Myanmar when reevaluating large Tetraconodon specimens.