Leptocyon
| Leptocyon Temporal range: Oligocene–Miocene | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Subfamily: | Caninae |
| Genus: | †Leptocyon |
| Species | |
| |
 | |
| Fossil range of Leptocyon species. | |
Leptocyon is a small extinct genus of canid 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]
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. Estimated body mass of these two was 3.26 kg (7.2 lb)[5]
References
- ↑ PaleoBiology Database: Leptocyon, basic info
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ J. T. Gregory. 1942. University of California Publications, Bulletin of the Department of Geological Sciences 26(4)
- ↑ S. D. Webb. 1969. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 78
- ↑ 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
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
Wikispecies has information related to: Nyctereutes |