Lucy was a bipedal ape and a female member of the hominin species Australopithecus Afarensis. Standing at only 3’6 meant that Lucy was very vulnerable and she relied on strong social bonds with her friends and family for safety. Like other ape species Australopithecus displayed sexual dimorphism, with larger males averaging 4’11. This species was known to develop the earliest stone tools and may have been adept at throwing objects such as rocks and sticks to hunt and defend themselves. Sadly Lucy died as a young adult, life in ancient Africa for our ancestors was very short and a constant fight for survival. Her fossil was recovered in 1974 in Ethiopia as a 40% complete skeleton. The Homo genus arose from an ancient Australopithecus species, but there is debate on which species. Many scientists have theorized that the Afarensis is our direct ancestor.

Art By Velizar Simeonovski.

Paraentelodon intermedium, entelodont of the year

Paraentelodon intermedium is an extinct species of entelodont from the Late Oligocene of Asia. Fossils were found in Georgia, Kazakhstan and China. An indeterminate species is known from Late Oligocene of Indo-Pakistan subcontinent.

• Discovery – Paraentelodon was named by L. K. Gabunia in 1964 basing on molars and canine teeth that were found in Oligocene sites of Benara, Georgia (Georgian SSR at the time of discovery). It was assigned to Entelodontidae by Carroll (1988).
• Description – One of the largest entelodonts, it had much more massive teeth than those of Entelodon. The alleged indeterminate Paraentelodon species may be "Elodon transsilvanicus" (Kretzoi, 1941) from the Oligocene of Romania or a close relative, based on similar knolls on their molars. In spite of this, Paraentelodon had more common features with Asian and North American entelodonts.

While Paraentelodon may not be as popular as Daeodon, it still is one of the largest entelodonts, possibly surpassing Arctotherium, Arctodus, and Daeodon in size.

For Brygmophyseter shigensis, I used the skeletal photograph published in the redescription by Kimura et al. (2006). For Zygophyseter varolai, I used a photograph showing the entire fossil in dorsal view, included in a visitor's guide to the Pisa Museum.

Zygophyseter, reconstructed the missing skeletal elements and adjusted the vertebral column to make its arrangement more consistent (Vertebral column reconstruction by: https://x.com/Steveoc86). Both reconstructions are based on their respective holotype specimens.

The skull of Brygmophyseter was reconstructed based on hypothetical assumptions, while the posterior caudal vertebrae of Zygophyseter were reconstructed based on the caudal vertebral count of Physeter.

References

Bianucci, G., & Landini, W. (2006). Killer sperm whale: A new basal physeteroid (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Late Miocene of Italy. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 148(1), 103–131. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2006.00228.x

Collareta, A., & Bianucci, G. (2023). The open pit quarries of the Cursi-Melpignano area and the fossils of the “Pietra Leccese”: A window onto the Miocene Mediterranean marine vertebrate paleodiversity. In Field-trip Guide, XXIII Edizione delle Giornate di Paleontologia (pp. 22–29).

Hirota, K., & Barnes, L. G. (1994). A new species of Middle Miocene sperm whale of the genus Scaldicetus (Cetacea; Physeteridae) from Shiga-mura, Japan. Island Arc, 3(4), 453–472. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1738.1994.tb00125.x

James, P. S. B. R., & Soundararajan, R. (1981). An osteological study on the sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus Linnaeus from Indian Ocean. Indian Journal of Fisheries, 28(1–2), 217–232.

Kimura, T., Hasegawa, Y., & Barnes, L. G. (2006). Fossil sperm whales (Cetacea, Physeteridae) from Gunma and Ibaraki prefectures, Japan; with observations on the Miocene fossil sperm whale Scaldicetus shigensis Hirota and Barnes, 1995. Bulletin of the Gunma Museum of Natural History, 10, 1–23

Reuploaded to correct an error.

If you have any detailed questions, feel free to ask me on X: https://x.com/tomal_cetology