Tapocyon

Tapocyon
Temporal range: middle Eocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivoramorpha
Family: †Miacidae
Genus: †Tapocyon
Stock, 1934
Type species
†Tapocyon occidentalis
Species
  • †Tapocyon dawsonae
  • †Tapocyon robustus

Tapocyon[1] is an extinct genus of Miacidae, a family of primitive carnivores. Tapocyon was first discovered in Ventura County, when part of a jaw was found in the 1930s.[2] A representative fossil of Tapocyon robustus was found in Oceanside, California.[2] The animal was about the size of a coyote[2] and is believed to have been a good climber that spent a lot of time in trees.[2]

Sources

  1. ↑ Wesley, G. D. & Flynn, J. J., 2003: A revision of Tapocyon (Carnivoramorpha), including analysis of the first cranial specimens and identification of a new species. –Journal of Paleontology: Vol. 77, #4, pp. 769-783
  2. 1 2 3 4 www.sdnhm.org Retrieved on May 14th, 2008.

Further reading

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