Bear dog

Amphicyonidae
Temporal range: 42–2.6 Ma Middle Eocene – Late Pliocene
Skeleton of Amphicyon
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Caniformia
Family: †Amphicyonidae
Haeckel, 1886
Subfamilies

†Amphicyoninae
†Daphoeninae
†Temnocyoninae

The Amphicyonidae or bear dogs, is an extinct family of large terrestrial carnivores.

They belonged to the dog-like suborder Caniformia. It had a wide distribution in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. They lived from the Eocene epoch to the Pleistocene epoch 46.2 – 1.8 million years ago (mya), for a total of about 44.4 million years or from the Paleocene to the Quaternary period.

Originally they evolved in the Old World, but crossed over to the Americas during the Miocene epoch. This would happen at a time when crossing was possible via the Bering Strait.

References

  1. ↑ "Paleobiology Database: Amphicyonidae, age range and collections". Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
  2. ↑ Hunt, Robert M, Jr. 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, 77-115