Protocyon
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene (Lujanian)
~0.781–0.012 Ma
↓
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Tribe: Canini
Subtribe: Cerdocyonina
Genus: †Protocyon
1855 (1855): Giebel
Species
  • †P. orocualensis 2022 (2022): Ruiz-Ramoni, Wang & Rincón
  • †P. orcesi 1952 (1952): Hoffstetter
  • †P. tarijensis 1902 (1902): Ameghino
  • †P. troglodytes 1838 (1838): Lund, type
Synonyms

Protocyon is an extinct genus of large canid endemic to South and North America during the Late Pleistocene living from 781 to 12 thousand years ago.[1]

Description

Protocyon was a hypercarnivore, suggested by its dental adaptations. Like many other large canids, it was most likely a pack hunter. It hunted the medium-sized grazers and browsers, and bite marks on fossils suggest that it may have hunted Glyptotherium.[2] The find of a molar tooth found in Santa Vitória do Palmar in Brazil suggests a weight of between 25 and 37 kilograms (55 and 82 pounds) for this particular specimen.[3]: 219  , modest in size compared to other canids including the dire wolf. However, despite its size, isotopic analysis shows a dietary overlap with Smilodon populator, which implies it might actively hunt much larger prey animals[4] since S. populator weighed at least 400kg.

Taxonomy

Protocyon was named by Giebel in 1855 and assigned to Canidae by Carroll in 1988.[5]: 634  A member of the Cerdocyonina lineage, its closest living relative might be the bush dog.

Fossil distribution

Fossils of Protocyon have been found in the Ñuapua and Tarija Formations of Bolivia, the Vorohue Formation of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Santa Elena Peninsula of Ecuador, Sopas Formation of Uruguay, Mene de Inciarte Tar Seep of Venezuela and various sites in Brazil, among others the Jandaíra Formation.[1]

Canid fossil material from the Hoyo Negro pit in the Sac Actun cave system (Mexico), initially identified as remains of a coyote, was reinterpreted as remains of Protocyon troglodytes by Schubert et al. (2019), indicating that this taxon was also present in the southern part of North America.[6]: 2 

References

  1. ^ a b Alroy, John, ed. (2021). "Protocyon Giebel 1855 (canid)". Fossilworks. Sydney: Macquarie University. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. ^ Araújo-Júnior, Hermínio Ismael de; Barbosa, Fernando Henrique de Souza; Silva, Lucas Henrique Medeiros da (February 2017). "Overlapping paleoichnology, paleoecology and taphonomy: Analysis of tooth traces in a Late Pleistocene-early Holocene megafaunal assemblage of Brazil and description of a new ichnotaxon in hard substrate". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier. 468: 122–128. Bibcode:2017PPP...468..122A. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.12.007. ISSN 0031-0182.
  3. ^ Oliveira, Édison V.; Prevosti, Francisco J.; Pereira, Jamil C. (December 2005). "Protocyon Troglodytes (Lund) (Mammalia, Carnivora) in the late Pleistocene of Rio Grande Do Sul and their Paleoecological Significance" (PDF). Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia. Brazil: Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia. 8 (3): 215–220. ISSN 1519-7530. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  4. ^ Bocherens, Hervé; Cotte, Martin; Bonini, Ricardo; Scian, Daniel; Straccia, Pablo; Soibelzon, Leopoldo; Prevosti, Francisco J. (1 May 2016). "Paleobiology of sabretooth cat Smilodon populator in the Pampean Region (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) around the Last Glacial Maximum: Insights from carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in bone collagen". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 449: 463–474. Bibcode:2016PPP...449..463B. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.02.017.
  5. ^ Carroll, Robert Lynn (1988). Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company. ISBN 978-0716718222. OCLC 453330574. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  6. ^ Schubert, Blaine W.; et al. (2019). "Yucatán carnivorans shed light on the Great American Biotic Interchange". Biology Letters. London: Royal Society. 15 (5): 1–6. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2019.0148. PMC 6548739. PMID 31039726. 20190148.
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