Prototocyon

Prototocyon
Temporal range: Late Eocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Caniformia
Family: Canidae
Genus: †Prototocyon
Pohle, 1928

Prototocyon or Sivacyon is an extinct genus of small omnivorous canid living during the Late Eocene.[1]

Taxonomy

Prototocyon was named by Pohle (1928) and was assigned to Canidae by Carroll (1988).[2] Old literature relates it to Vulpes bengalensis, but not more modern literature (e.g. McKenna and Bell.[3][4]) Tedford et al. 2009 suggest that Prototocyon and Otocyon form a clade.

Fossil distribution

The fossil remains were recovered from the early Pleistocene Upper Siwaliks horizon of the Siwalik Hills, India (Colbert 1935; Pilgrim 1932).

References

  1. ↑ Dogs: their fossil relatives and evolutionary history, Xiaoming Wang, Richard H. Tedford, Mauricio Antón
  2. ↑ R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company
  3. ↑ McKenna, M. C., and S. K. Bell. 1997. Classification of mammals above the species level. Columbia University Press, New York.
  4. ↑ Mammalian Species No. 795, pp. 1–5, 3 figs. Vulpes bengalensis. By Matthew E. Gompper and Abi Tamim Vanak, Published 9 August 2006 by the American Society of Mammalogists
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