Ictiocyon

Ictiocyon
Temporal range: Miocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Caniformia
Superfamily: Arctoidea
Family: Amphicyonidae
Genus: Ictiocyon
Crusafont Pairó (1955)

Ictiocyon is an extinct genus of large, mostly carnivorous bone-crushing mammals known as bear dogs, of the family Amphicyonidae endemic to Asia during the Miocene living from 23.03—15.97 Ma and existed for approximately 7.06 million years. [1]

Taxonomy

Ictiocyon was named by Crusafont Pairó et al. (1955). It was assigned to Amphicyonidae by Wang et al. (2005).[2]

Morphology

A single specimen was examined by Legendre and Roth for body mass and was estimated to weigh 1.42 kg (3.1 lb).[3]

References

  1. Paleobiology Database: Ictiocyon Basic info.
  2. X. Wang, Z. Qiu, and B. Wang. 2005. Hyaenodonts and carnivorans from the early Oligocene to early Miocene of the Xianshuihe Formation, Lanzhou Basin, Gansu Province, China. Paleontologica Electronica 8(1):1-14
  3. S. Legendre and C. Roth. 1988. Correlation of carnassial tooth size and body weight in recent carnivores (Mammalia). Historical Biology 1(1):85-98