Metatomarctus is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. It lived during the Early to Middle Miocene, 23–16 Mya, existing for approximately 7 million years[1] It was an intermediate-size canid, and more predaceous than earlier borophagines.[2]
| Metatomarctus Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Subfamily: | †Borophaginae |
| Tribe: | †Borophagini |
| Genus: | †Metatomarctus Wang et al., 1999 |
| Species: | †M. canavus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Metatomarctus canavus (Simpson, 1932)
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It hunted in packs,[citation needed] like modern canines, and may have preyed upon creatures such as Equus, rodents, and other smaller prey.[citation needed]
Fossil distribution
edit- Thomas Farm Site, Gilchrist County, Florida, estimated age ~23.3—16.3 Mya.[3]
- Pollack Farm Site, Kent County, Delaware.
- Hackberry Wash, San Bernardino County, California.
- Rattlesnake Hills, Fremont County, Wyoming.
- High Rock Canyon aka UCMP V-110, Humboldt County, Nevada.
- Ahren's Prospect, Elder Ridge, and Pebble Creek, Runningwater Formation, Dawes County, Nebraska.[4]
- Other fossil locations: Maryland, Wyoming, New Mexico, western Nebraska.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b Matatomarctus, fossilworks
- ^ Wang, Xiaoming; Tedford, Richard H. (2008). Dogs, Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History. Columbia. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-231-13528-3.
- ^ www.flmnh.ufl.edu Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Dawes County Collection, Paleobiology
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