Osbornodon
Temporal range: Early Oligocene–Early Miocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Subfamily: †Hesperocyoninae
Genus: †Osbornodon
Wang, 1994
Type species
†Osbornodon fricki
Species

See text

Approximate range of Osbornodon based on fossil distribution

Osbornodon ("Osborn's tooth") is an extinct genus of canid that were endemic to North America and which lived from the Oligocene to the Early Miocene, 33.9—15.97 Ma (AEO), existing for approximately 18 million years. [1] It was the last surviving genus of the hesperocyonine subfamily, the oldest subfamily of canids.[2]

Species

Seven known species of Osbornodon existed:

The earlier species were about the size of a small fox, and had teeth suggesting an omnivorous or hypocarnivorous diet. Later species were larger and more actively predaceous. The last species, O. fricki, was about the size of a large wolf.[2]

References

  1. ^ Paleobiology Database: Osbornodon.
  2. ^ a b Wang, Xiaoming; Tedford, Richard H. (2008). Dogs, Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History. Columbia. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-231-13528-3.


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