Cynarctus
Cynarctus is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. The genus was first founded by W. D. Matthew in 1901, based from a pair of lower jaws, Cynarctus saxitilis, found in the Pawnee Creek Beds of Colorado. It lived during the Middle to Late Miocene 16.0—10.3 mya, existing for approximately 5.7 million years. Fossils have been uncovered in Colorado, California, Maryland, western Nebraska, and Texas. It was likely an omnivore, and lacked the bone-cracking adaptations found in some later borophagines. Newer findings have proved the genus to be described as a large dog-like raccoon, a result from combining characteristics from Canidae with Procyonidae.
Cynarctus Temporal range: | |
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Cynarctus Skull | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Canidae |
Subfamily: | †Borophaginae |
Tribe: | †Borophagini |
Subtribe: | †Cynarctina |
Genus: | †Cynarctus Matthew, 1902 |
Type species | |
†Cynarctus saxatilis | |
Species | |
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