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 dawsonae
  • Tapocyon robustus

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 and is believed to have been a good climber that spent a lot of time in trees.[2]

Life reconstruction of Tapocyon robustus

Sources

  1. Wesley, G. D.; Flynn, J. J. (2003). "A revision of Tapocyon (Carnivoramorpha), including analysis of the first cranial specimens and identification of a new species.". Journal of Paleontology. 77 (4): 769–783. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2003)077<0769:AROTCI>2.0.CO;2. JSTOR 4094822.
  2. 1 2 3 www.sdnhm.org Retrieved on May 14th, 2008.

Further reading

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