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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