Cephalogale
| Cephalogale Temporal range: late Oligocene–Miocene | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Superfamily: | Arctoidea |
| Family: | Hemicyonidae / Ursidae |
| Subfamily: | † Hemicyoninae |
| Genus: | Cephalogale Jourdan, 1862 |
| Species: | C. geoffroyi |
| Binomial name | |
| Cephalogale geoffroyi Filhol, 1879 | |
Cephalogale is an extinct genus of bear-like hemicyonid carnivores of the late Oligocene through Miocene epochs, endemic to North America and Europe living from around 33.9—20 Mya, existing for about 33.9-20 million years.
Before it was reconsidered to be close to the ancestry of hemicyonids, Cephalogale was once considered to be an ancestor of all bears.[1]
Taxonomy
Cephalogale was named by Henri Filhol in 1879. Its type is Cephalogale geoffroyi. It was assigned to Ursidae by Carroll (1988); to Hemicyoninae by Hunt (1998); and to Ursoidea by Wang et al. (2005).[2][3]
Fossil distribution
- Dětaň, Czech Republic about 33.9—28.4 Mya
- Cetina de Aragon, Spain about 22.4—20 Mya
- Standing Rock Quarry, Zia Sand Formation, Sandoval County, New Mexico about 24.8—20.6 Mya
- Agate Springs Quarries, Sioux County, Nebraska about 23—5.3 Mya
- Hemingford Quarry 12D, Runningwater Formation, Box Butte County, Nebraska about 20.6—16.3 Mya
References
- ↑ McLellan B. & Reiner D. C. (1994). "A review of bear evolution". Int. Conf. Bear Res. and Manage. 9(1): 85-89. PDF
- ↑ R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York 1-698
- ↑ X. Wang, M. C. McKenna, and D. Dashzeveg. 2005. Amphicticeps and Amphicynodon (Arctoidea, Carnivora) from Hsanda Gol Formation, Central Mongolia and phylogeny of basal arctoids with comments on zoogeography. American Museum Novitates 3483:1-57