Leptocyon

Leptocyon
Temporal range: Oligocene–Miocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Subfamily: Caninae
Genus: †Leptocyon
Species
  • †L. gregorii
  • †L. vafer
  • †L. vulpinus
Fossil range of Leptocyon species.

Leptocyon is a small extinct genus of canidae endemic to North America during the Oligocene through Miocene living from 24.8—10.3 mya, existing for approximately 15.5 million years.[1]

Leptocyon was a small bodied, fox-like animal with a slender jaw.[2]

Contents

Taxonomy

Leptocyon was named by Matthew (1918). It was synonymized subjectively with Vulpes by Gregory (1942); it was revalidated by Webb (1969), Carroll (1988) and Munthe (1998). It was assigned to Canidae by Matthew (1918), Webb (1969), Carroll (1988) and Munthe (1998).[3][4]

Morphology

Body mass

Two specimens were examined by Legendre and Roth. Estimating the body mass of these two with both weighing an estimated 3.26 kg (7.2 lb)[5]

References

  1. ^ PaleoBiology Database: Leptocyon, basic info
  2. ^ Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America: Terrestrial animals of North America Volume 1, Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulate like Mammals. Christine M. Janis carnivores. Louis L. Jacobs, Kathleen Marie Scott.
  3. ^ J. T. Gregory. 1942. University of California Publications, Bulletin of the Department of Geological Sciences 26(4)
  4. ^ S. D. Webb. 1969. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 78
  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

External links