Drassonax

Drassonax
Temporal range: Oligocene
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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Caniformia
Superfamily: Arctoidea
Family: Amphicyonidae
Genus: †Drassonax
Galbreath (1953)

Drassonax is an extinct genus of small, weasel-like bear dogs, of the family Amphicyonidae endemic to North America during the Oligocene living from 33.9—33.3 Ma and existed for approximately 0.6 million years. [1]

Taxonomy

Drassonax was named by Galbreath (1953). Its type species is Drassonax harpagops. It was assigned to Amphicyonidae by Galbreath (1953) and Baskin and Tedford (1996); and to Phocoidea by McKenna and Bell (1997).[2][3][4]

Morphology

A single specimen was examined by Legendre and Roth for body mass and was estimated to weigh 1.42 kg (3.1 lb).[5]

References

  1. ^ Paleobiology Database: Drassonax Basic info.
  2. ^ E. C. Galbreath. 1953. University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions Vertebrata 4
  3. ^ J. A. Baskin and R. H. Tedford. 1996.
  4. ^ M. C. McKenna and S. K. Bell. 1997. Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level 1-640
  5. ^ S. Legendre and C. Roth. 1988. Correlation of carnassial tooth size and body weight in recent carnivores (Mammalia). Historical Biology 1(1):85-98