Nothocyon

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Nothocyon[1]
Fossil range: late Oligocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Infraorder: Arctoidea
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: †Nothocyon
Matthew, 1899
Species: †N. geismarianus
Binomial name
†Nothocyon geismarianus
(Cope, 1878)

Nothocyon is an extinct genus of carnivoran which inhabited Oregon during the late Oligocene. At one time, many species of the dog family Canidae were placed in Nothocyon, but new fossils showed that the type species of Nothocyon, N. geismarianus, is more closely related to bears.[1] The other species have been reassigned to other genera such as Cormocyon.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Wang, X.; Tedford, R.H. (1992). "The status of genus Nothocyon Matthew, 1899 (Carnivora): an arctoid not a canid". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 12 (2): 223-229. 
  • Martin, L.D. 1989. Fossil history of the terrestrial carnivora. Pages 536 - 568 in J.L. Gittleman, editor. Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution, Vol. 1. Comstock Publishing Associates: Ithaca.
  • Tedford, R.H. 1978. History of dogs and cats: A view from the fossil record. Pages 1 - 10 in Nutrition and Management of Dogs and Cats. Ralston Purina Co.: St. Louis.
  • Paleo Data Base - Nothocyon
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