Protocyon

Protocyon; Temporal range: Late Pleistocene (Lujanian); ~0.781–0.012 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	File:O5hv44te71e21.jpg
	Artist reconstruction of a pack of Protocyon hunting a large ground sloth Glossotherium
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Canidae
Tribe:	Canini
Subtribe:	Cerdocyonina
Genus:	†Protocyon; Giebel 1855
Species
	P. orcesi Hoffstetter 1952; P. tarijensis Ameghino 1902; P. troglodytes Lund 1838, type;
Synonyms
	Theriodictis tarijense;

Protocyon is an extinct genus of large canid endemic to South and North America during the Late Pleistocene living from 0.781 Ma to 12,000 years ago and existed for approximately 0.769 million years.^[1]

Description

Protocyon was a hypercarnivore, suggested by its dental adaptations. Like many other large canids, it was most likely a pack hunter. It hunted the medium-sized grazers and browers, and bite marks on fossils suggest that it may have hunted Glyptotherium.^[2] The find of a molar tooth found in Santa Vitória do Palmar in Brazil suggests a weight of between 25 and 37 kilograms (55 and 82 lb) for this particular specimen.^[3]

Taxonomy

Protocyon was named by Giebel in 1855 and assigned to Canidae by Carroll in 1988.^[4] A member of the Cerdocyonina lineage, it's closest living relative might be the bush dog.

Fossil distribution

Fossils of Protocyon have been found in the Ñuapua and Tarija Formations of Bolivia, the Vorohue Formation of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Santa Elena Peninsula of Ecuador, Sopas Formation of Uruguay, Mene de Inciarte Tar Seep of Venezuela and various sites in Brazil, among others the Jandaíra Formation.^[1]

Canid fossil material from the Hoyo Negro pit in the Sac Actun cave system (Mexico), initially identified as remains of a coyote, was reinterpreted as remains of Protocyon troglodytes by Schubert et al. (2019), indicating that this taxon was also present in the southern part of North America.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b Protocyon at Fossilworks.org
^ "Overlapping paleoichnology, paleoecology and taphonomy: Analysis of tooth traces in a Late Pleistocene-early Holocene megafaunal assemblage of Brazil and description of a new ichnotaxon in hard substrate". doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.12.007. {{cite journal}}: Check |doi= value (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help); External link in |doi= (help)
^ http://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/34821853/PROTOCYON2005.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1485459654&Signature=zCxCPy8ZhkMhbEN%2FMwcS16wacho%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DProtocyon_troglodytes_Lund_Mammalia_Carn.pdf^{[dead link‍]}
^ R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company
^ Schubert, B. W.; Chatters, J. C.; Arroyo-Cabrales, J.; Samuels, J. X.; Soibelzon, L. H.; Prevosti, F. J.; Widga, C.; Nava, A.; Rissolo, D.; Erreguerena, P. L. (2019). "Yucatán carnivorans shed light on the Great American Biotic Interchange". Biology Letters. 15 (5): 20190148. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2019.0148. PMC 6548739. PMID 31039726. 20190148.

[FWProtocyon-1] Protocyon at Fossilworks.org

[2] "Overlapping paleoichnology, paleoecology and taphonomy: Analysis of tooth traces in a Late Pleistocene-early Holocene megafaunal assemblage of Brazil and description of a new ichnotaxon in hard substrate". doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.12.007. {{cite journal}}: Check |doi= value (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help); External link in |doi= (help)

[3] ttp://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/34821853/PROTOCYON2005.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1485459654&Signature=zCxCPy8ZhkMhbEN%2FMwcS16wacho%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DProtocyon_troglodytes_Lund_Mammalia_Carn.pdf^{[dead link‍]}

[4] R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company

[Schubert2019-5] Schubert, B. W.; Chatters, J. C.; Arroyo-Cabrales, J.; Samuels, J. X.; Soibelzon, L. H.; Prevosti, F. J.; Widga, C.; Nava, A.; Rissolo, D.; Erreguerena, P. L. (2019). "Yucatán carnivorans shed light on the Great American Biotic Interchange". Biology Letters. 15 (5): 20190148. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2019.0148. PMC 6548739. PMID 31039726. 20190148.

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