Rhizocyon

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Rhizocyon
Fossil range: early Oligocene

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Canidae
Subfamily:	†Borophaginae
Genus:	†Rhizocyon Wang, Tedford, & Taylor, 1999
Species:	†R. oregonensis

Binomial name

†Rhizocyon oregonensis
(Merriam, 1906)

Rhizocyon ("root dog") is an early member of the subfamily Borophaginae, an extinct subgroup of the family Canidae, which includes living dogs, wolves, and foxes. Only a single species, R. oregonensis, is known and all fossils come from the early Oligocene (Arikareean NALMA) of the John Day Formation in Oregon. Rhizocyon was similar to a contemporary species, Archaeocyon leptodus, from the Great Plains, but it shows a few subtle differences in the structure of the skull and dentition that indicate that Rhizocyon may be close to the ancestry of later borophagines.

[edit] References:

Wang, X., R.H. Tedford, and B.E. Taylor. 1999. Phylogenetic systematics of the Borophaginae (Carnivora, Canidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 243:1-391.

v • d • e Extinct members of the family Canidae

Kingdom: Animalia · Phylum: Chordata · Class: Mammalia · Order: Carnivora · Suborder: Caniformia

†Hesperocyoninae	†Prohesperocyon · †Hesperocyon · †Mesocyon · †Cynodesmus · †Sunkahetanka · †Philotrox · †Enhydrocyon · †Paraenhydrocyon · †Osbornodon · †Caedocyon · †Ectopocynus

†Borophaginae	†Archaeocyon · †Oxetocyon · †Otarocyon · †Rhizocyon · †Cynarctoides · †Phlaocyon · †Cormocyon · †Desmocyon · †Metatomarctus · †Euoplocyon · †Psalidocyon · †Microtomarctus · †Protomarctus · †Tephrocyon · †Paracynarctus · †Cynarctus · †Tomarctus · †Aelurodon · †Paratomarctus · †Carpocyon · †Protepicyon · †Epicyon · †Borophagus

Caninae (extinct genera)	†Leptocyon · †Prototocyon · †Eucyon · †Protocyon · †Theriodictis · †Dusicyon · †Nurocyon · †Xenocyon · †Cynotherium

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