Tapocyon
Tapocyon Temporal range: middle Eocene
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Life reconstruction of Tapocyon robustus | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Clade: | Carnivoramorpha |
Clade: | Carnivoraformes |
Family: | †Miacidae |
Genus: | †Tapocyon Stock, 1934 |
Type species | |
†Tapocyon robustus | |
Species | |
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Tapocyon[1] is an extinct genus of Miacidae, a family of primitive carnivores. Tapocyon was first discovered in Ventura County, when part of a jaw was found in the 1930s.[2] A representative fossil of Tapocyon robustus was found in Oceanside, California.[2] The animal was about the size of a coyote and is believed to have been a good climber that spent a lot of time in trees.[2]
Sources[]
- ^ Wesley, G. D.; Flynn, J. J. (2003). "A revision of Tapocyon (Carnivoramorpha), including analysis of the first cranial specimens and identification of a new species". Journal of Paleontology. 77 (4): 769–783. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2003)077<0769:AROTCI>2.0.CO;2. JSTOR 4094822.
- ^ a b c "Tapocyon robustus". San Diego Natural History Museum. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
Further reading[]
- Gittleman, J. A., ed. 1996. Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution. Ithaca, NY: Comstock Publishing.
- Halls, Kelly M. 2005. Wild Dogs: Past & Present. Plain City, OH: Darby Creek Publishing.
- The Terrestrial Eocene-Oligocene Transition in North America by Donald R. Prothero and Robert J. Emry; 1996 ISBN 0-521-43387-8
Categories:
- Miacids
- Eocene carnivorans
- Extinct animals of the United States
- Prehistoric placental genera
- Carnivoraformes
- Prehistoric mammal stubs