Protomarctus

Protomarctus is an extinct monospecific genus of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. They lived during the Middle Miocene 16.0—13.6 Mya, existing for approximately 2.4 million years.[1] It was an intermediate-size canid, and more predaceous than earlier borophagines.[2]

Protomarctus Temporal range: Early Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Canidae
Subfamily:	†Borophaginae
Tribe:	†Borophagini
Genus:	†Protomarctus Wang et al., 1999
Species:	†P. optatus
Binomial name
†Protomarctus optatus Matthew, 1924

The first specimen was found in Thomson Quarry, Sheep Creek Formation, Nebraska in a Hemingfordian layer. Specimens have since been found in present-day Colorado, as far west as California and as far southwest as New Mexico.[1] They were short-faced, heavy-jawed canines.

References

1. PaleoBiology Database: Protomarctus
2. Wang, Xiaoming; Tedford, Richard H. (2008). Dogs, Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History. Columbia. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-231-13528-3.

Further reading

• Martin, L.D. 1989. Fossil history of the terrestrial Carnivora. Pages 536 - 568 in J.L. Gittleman, editor. Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution, Vol. 1. Comstock Publishing Associates: Ithaca.