Tephrocyon is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. They lived during the Barstovian stage of the Middle Miocene 16.3—13.6 million years ago, existing for roughly 2.7 million years.[1] It is a rarely found genus,[citation needed] with fossil deposits only occurring in western Nebraska, Wyoming, eastern Oregon, New Mexico, and north Florida. It was an intermediate-sized canid, and more predatory than earlier borophagines.[2]
Tephrocyon Temporal range:
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Canidae |
Subfamily: | †Borophaginae |
Tribe: | †Borophagini |
Genus: | †Tephrocyon Merriam, 1906 |
Species | |
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References
edit- ^ PaleoBiology Database: Tephrocyon Taxonomy, Species
- ^ Wang, Xiaoming; Tedford, Richard H. (2008). Dogs, Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History. Columbia. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-231-13528-3.
Further reading
edit- The Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids by David W. Macdonald and Claudio Sillero-Zubiri; page 42 ISBN 0-19-851556-1