| Daphoenus socialis Temporal range: 25.4–24.3 Ma Miocene |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | †Amphicyonidae |
| Genus: | Daphoenus |
| Species: | Daphoenus socialis Thorpe, 1922 |
Daphoenus socialis is an extinct species of Amphicyonidae ("bear dogs"), a family of terrestrial carnivores belonging to the suborder Caniformia, which inhabited North America from the Miocene ~25.4—24.3 Mya, existing for approximately 1.1 million years.
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Daphoenus socialis was originally desinagnated as Pericyon socialis and named by Thorpe (1922) a genotype.[1] It is the type species of Pericyon. It was recombined as Daphoenus socialis by Hunt in 1998.[2]
A single specimen was measured by Legendre and Roth in 1988 for estimated body mass.[3]
Daphoenus socialis fossils found in Oligocene Hemingfordian rocks at the Haystack Member, Wheeler County, Oregon are dated at ~24.3 Ma. and Kimberly Member, Grant County, Oregon with several other species of mammal such as Hesperocyon, Hypertragulus, and Leptomeryx dating ~25.4—25.3 Ma.