View source for Mesocyon

{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivores}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Early Oligocene|Early Miocene}}
| image = Mesocyon.jpeg
| image_caption = Skull
| taxon = Mesocyon
| authority = [[William Berryman Scott|Scott]], 1890
| type_species = †''Temnocyon coryphaeus''
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
* †''M. brachyops'' <small>Merriam 1906</small>
* †''M. coryphaeus'' <small>Cope 1879</small>
* †''M. temnodon'' <small>Wortman & Matthew 1899</small>
}}

'''''Mesocyon''''' ("middle dog") is an extinct genus of the [[Hesperocyoninae]] subfamily of early [[canid]]s native to [[North America]]. It lived from the [[Oligocene]] to Early [[Miocene]], 30.3—20.3 [[Annum|Ma]], existing for approximately {{Mya|30-20|million years}}.<ref>[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=41220 ''Mesocyon'' at fossilworks]</ref> Fossils are known from [[Oregon]], southern [[California]] and the northern Great Plains. It was roughly coyote-sized, and the first known canid to have a primarily meat-based diet.<ref name=Wang2008>{{cite book |last1= Wang |first1= Xiaoming | last2= Tedford | first2= Richard H. | date= 2008 |title= Dogs, Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History |publisher= Columbia |page= 27 |isbn= 978-0-231-13528-3}}</ref>

[[File:Turtle Cove mural - Roger Witter.jpg|thumb|left|Restoration of ''Mesocyon'' (right) and other animals from the Turtle Cove Formation]] 

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Canidae extinct nav|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3855276}}

[[Category:Hesperocyonines]]
[[Category:Oligocene canids]]
[[Category:Aquitanian genus extinctions]]
[[Category:Miocene carnivorans]]
[[Category:White River Fauna]]
[[Category:Prehistoric carnivoran genera]]
[[Category:Rupelian genus first appearances]]
[[Category:Oligocene mammals of North America]]


{{paleo-carnivora-stub}}
{{canid-stub}}