Drassonax
| Drassonax Temporal range: Oligocene | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Caniformia |
| Superfamily: | Arctoidea |
| Family: | Amphicyonidae |
| Genus: | †Drassonax Galbreath (1953) |
Drassonax is an extinct genus of small, weasel-like bear dogs, of the family Amphicyonidae endemic to North America during the Oligocene living from 33.9—33.3 Ma and existed for approximately 0.6 million years. [1]
Taxonomy
Drassonax was named by Galbreath (1953). Its type species is Drassonax harpagops. It was assigned to Amphicyonidae by Galbreath (1953) and Baskin and Tedford (1996); and to Phocoidea by McKenna and Bell (1997).[2][3][4]
Morphology
A single specimen was examined by Legendre and Roth for body mass and was estimated to weigh 1.42 kg (3.1 lb).[5]
References
- ↑ Paleobiology Database: Drassonax Basic info.
- ↑ E. C. Galbreath. 1953. University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions Vertebrata 4
- ↑ J. A. Baskin and R. H. Tedford. 1996.
- ↑ M. C. McKenna and S. K. Bell. 1997. Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level 1-640
- ↑ S. Legendre and C. Roth. 1988. Correlation of carnassial tooth size and body weight in recent carnivores (Mammalia). Historical Biology 1(1):85-98
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