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:
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
  • "C, acridens", Barbour and Cook 1914
  • C. crucidens, Barbour and Cook 1914
  • "C. fortidens", Hall "et al." 1962
  • C. galushai, Wang et al. 1999
  • C. marylandica, Berry 1938
  • C. saxatilis, Matthew 1902
  • C. voorhiesi, Wang wt al. 1999
  • C. wangi, Jasinski & Wallace 2015
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