Andrewsarchus hooves

[BlueKrono]

I am interested in creating my own sculpt of Eocene predator Andrewsarchus, but I had a question I'd like to pose to the group since no one at any science or paleontological museum I've ever visited has ever heard of it, let alone had an opinion on the matter. Since the most recent studies tend to place Andrewsarchus with the artiodactyls like pigs, hippos, whales and cattle rather than the hyena-like mesonychids, why don't we have any sculpts that depict it with hooves like you see on every enteledont (Hell Pig) ever made? I personally think that it was more likely to have hooves like Daeodon, Archaeotherium and Enteledon rather than the multi-toed tiger paws you always see. Does anyone think this is unlikely? As for the body I believe Andrewsarchus looked rather dissimilar to anything alive today, which is what paleoartists tend to base their models on, for better or worse. Unlike the "stripey wolf" you always see, I think it probably looked more like these two depictions, and my sculpt will likely be similar:

http://romanyevseyev.deviantart.com/art/Andrewsarchus-mongoliensis-504911425

http://edasich.deviantart.com/art/Andrewsarchus-mongoliensis-535031703

[Papi-Anon]

While I'll always be a fan of the mesonychid interpretation (especially WWB's version), the following seems like a pretty realistic depiction:



Basically the hooves are still paw-like but more transitional to a modern artiodactyl than the traditional 'feliform-paw with hooved claws' design that's been the norm for decades.

While not impossible to sport cloven hooves with the above body, something about Andrewsarchus's skull shape (minus the teeth) compared to the entelodonts just gives me the impression of it having little in common morphologically with the Hell-Pigs (mainly the low placement of the orbital sockets and the lack of enshrouding bone for the sockets that many of the entelodonts and their mutual ancestors/relatives had). But that's just my observation and I'm certainly no expert.

Best of luck to you on the sculpt! I'm trying to make a 1/12th scale model myself, though I'm technically doing a fictional version of Andrewsarchus just to make it like the outdated mesonychid layout (the detailed MS Paint pic of my interpretation is in my paleoart thread).

[BlueKrono]

That's a fair interpretation there. The feet and general look to it are very hippo-like, which makes sense since they might be Andy's closest living relatives. Wouldn't a semi-aquatic large predator version be cool, in the vein of Ambulocetus?

[Papi-Anon]

That WOULD be pretty cool.