Tapocyon

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]

Tapocyon
Temporal range: middle Eocene
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
  • Tapocyon dawsonae
  • Tapocyon robustus

Sources

  1. 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.
  2. "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


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