Tapocyon
| Tapocyon Temporal range: middle Eocene | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivoramorpha |
| Family: | †Miacidae |
| Genus: | †Tapocyon Stock, 1934 |
| Type species | |
| †Tapocyon occidentalis | |
| Species | |
| |
Tapocyon[1] is an extinct genus of Miacidae, a family of primitive carnivores. Tapocyon was first discovered in Ventura County, when part of a jaw was found in the 1930s.[2] A representative fossil of Tapocyon robustus was found in Oceanside, California.[2] The animal was about the size of a coyote[2] and is believed to have been a good climber that spent a lot of time in trees.[2]
Sources
Further reading
- Gittleman, J. A., ed. 1996. Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution. Ithaca, NY: Comstock Publishing.
- Halls, Kelly M. 2005. Wild Dogs: Past & Present. Plain City, OH: Darby Creek Publishing.
- Academy of Sciences, National (U.S.) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
- The Terrestrial Eocene-Oligocene Transition in North America by Donald R. Prothero and Robert J. Emry; 1996 ISBN 0-521-43387-8