Phlaocyon

Phlaocyon (from Greek phlao, "eat greedily" and cyon, "dog") is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. It lives from the Early Oligocene to the Early Miocene epoch 33.3–16.3 Mya, existing for approximately 17.3 million years. It is closely related to Cynarctoides.

Phylogeny

When discovered in the 19th century and during the following decades, Phlaocyon was thought to be ancestral to raccoons because of shared convergent adaptations toward hypocarnivorous dentitions, but was the first to discover the canid nature of the middle ear region in P. leucosteus and Phlaocyon in now believed to be part of very diverse clade of hypocarnivorous canids, the Phlaocyonini, and only distantly related to raccoons.

P. mariae and P. yatkolai, both known from isolated teeth and fragmentary material, are the largest and most derived species, and both display a tendency away from the hypocarnivorous dentition of the genus and towards a more hypercarnivorous dentition.

Anatomy

Phlaocyon was about in body length, and looked more like a cat or raccoon than a dog, but its skull anatomy shows it to be a primitive canid. Phlaocyon probably lived like a raccoon, often climbing trees. Its head was short, wide, and had forward-facing eyes. Unlike modern canides, Phlaocyon had no specialised teeth for slicing flesh. It is thought to have been an omnivore.

Species

• †P. achoros
• †P. annectens
• †P. latidens
• †P. leucosteus
• †P. mariae
• †P. marslandensis
• †P. minor
• †P. multicuspus
• †P. taylori
• †P. yatkolai

Fossil distribution

• Foree Site, John Day Formation, Wheeler County, Oregon (P. latidens) ~30.8–20.6 Ma.
• Brooksville 2 Site, Hernando County, Florida (P. taylori) ~30.8–20.6 Ma.
• SB-1A Live Oak Site, Suwannee County, Florida (P. leucosteus) ~24.8–20.6 Ma.
• Buda Mine, Alachua County, Florida (P. indent) ~24.8–20.6 Ma.
• Wewela Site, Tripp County, South Dakota (P. minor) ~26.3–24.8 Ma.

References

Sources

• (with illustrations by Mauricio Antón)