Pseudocyon

Pseudocyon
Pseudocyon sansaniensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: †Amphicyonidae
Subfamily: †Amphicyoninae
Genus: †Pseudocyon
Lartet, 1851
Species
  • †P. sansaniensis
  • †P. steinheimensis
  • †P. styriacus
Synonyms
  • Amphicyonopsis

Pseudocyon (False dog) is a genus of amphicyonid which inhabited Eurasia and North America during the Miocene epoch from 17.2 to 9 Ma. Pseudocyon was assigned to Amphicyoninae by Hunt in 1988. The genus was one of the largest amphicyonids with the North American Pseudocyon possibly weighing 773 kg (1,704 lb).

Originally evolving in Europe, Pseudocyon dispersed into North America roughly 15.5 Ma, replacing Amphicyon ingens.

Description

Body mass estimates based on humerus remains estimate P. sansaniensis weighed 245 kg (540 lb), The largest fossil find was of a mandible (F:AM 49247) founded in New Mexico. The mass estimate derived from the mandible was about 773 kg (1,704 lb), representing a very large individual of Pseudocyon.

Paleobiology

Dental microwear of Sansan amphicyonids by Goillot (2009) found P. sansaniensis had an omnivorous diet similar to that of European badgers, with plants and other hard items making a significant part of its diet. Compared to the European species, North American Pseudocyon was noted to have dental and cranial similarities to Ischyrocyon, suggesting it was hypercarnivorous.

Fossil distribution

Specimens were located in Belomechetskaia Russian Federation, Santa Cruz, New Mexico, Pontigne and Malartic, a la ferme Larrieu, France, and Nebraska.

Sources

  1. 1 2 3 Hunt, R. M. Jr. (1998). "Amphicyonidae" (PDF). In Janis, Christine M.; Scott, Kathleen M.; Jacobs, Louis L. (eds.). Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America, volume 1: Terrestrial carnivores, ungulates, and ungulatelike mammals. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. pp. 196–227. ISBN 978-0-521-35519-3.
  2. 1 2 Figueirido, Borja; Pérez-Claros, Juan A.; Hunt, Robert M.; Palmqvist, Paul (June 2011). "Body Mass Estimation in Amphicyonid Carnivoran Mammals: A Multiple Regression Approach from the Skull and Skeleton" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 56 (2): 225–246. doi:10.4202/app.2010.0005. S2CID 56051166. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  3. ↑ Hunt, Robert M. (2003). "Intercontinental Migration of Large Mammalian Carnivores: Earliest Occurrence of the Old World Beardog Amphicyon (Carnivora, Amphicyonidae) in North America". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 279: 77. doi:10.1206/0003-0090(2003)279<0077:C>2.0.CO;2.
  4. ↑ Goillot, Cyrielle; Blondel, Cécile; Peigné, Stéphane (2009-01-01). "Relationships between dental microwear and diet in Carnivora (Mammalia) — Implications for the reconstruction of the diet of extinct taxa". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 271 (1): 13–23. Bibcode:2009PPP...271...13G. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.09.004. ISSN 0031-0182.
  5. ↑ Paleobiology Database: Pseudocyon, age range and collections