Temnocyon

Temnocyon is an extinct genus of bear-dogs endemic to North America. It lived from the Oligocene to Early Miocene approximately 30.8—20.4 mya, existing for about 11 million years.[1]

Temnocyon
Temporal range: Early Oligocene–Early Miocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: †Amphicyonidae
Subfamily: †Temnocyoninae
Genus: †Temnocyon
Cope, 1878
Species
  • Temnocyon altigenis Cope, 1878
  • Temnocyon ferox Eyermann, 1896
  • Temnocyon fingeruti Hunt jr., 2011
  • Temnocyon macrogenys Hunt jr., 2011
  • Temnocyon percussor Cook, 1909
  • Temnocyon subferox Hunt jr., 2011
  • Temnocyon typicus Loomis, 1936
Range of Temnocyonines based on fossil record

The first fossils are recorded in North America at Logan Butte in the John Day beds of Oregon, in the Sharps Formation of the Wounded Knee area, South Dakota, and in the Gering Formation at Wildcat Ridge, Nebraska. These early temnocyonines attained the size of coyotes or small wolves (15–30 kg) and are identified by a uniquely specialized dentition. The last documented occurrences of temnocyonines are found in sediments in northwest Nebraska and southeastern Wyoming.[2]

References
  1. Temnocyon at fossilworks
  2. Hunt, Robert M, Jr. (2004) "Global Climate and the Evolution of Large Mammalian Carnivores during the Later Cenozoic in North America" in Cenozoic Carnivores and Global Climate by Robert M. Hunt, Jr. Archived July 20, 2007, at the Wayback Machine


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