Prototocyon
Extinct genus of carnivores
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prototocyon is an extinct genus of small omnivorous canid that lived during the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene.[1] It is closely related to the living bat-eared fox (Otocyon).
| Prototocyon Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Genus: | †Prototocyon Pohle, 1928 |
| Type species | |
| †Prototocyon curvipalatus Bose, 1880 | |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Taxonomy
Prototocyon was named by Pohle (1928) and was assigned to Canidae by Carroll (1988).[2] Old literature relates it to Vulpes bengalensis, but not more modern literature (e.g. McKenna and Bell.[3][4] A 2013 study stated that the genus "is only doubtfully distinct from Otocyon" the genus of the living bat-eared fox.[5]
Description
Prototocyon was a small canine similar to the bat-eared fox in overall morphology and likely in habits as well. It differed from the modern bat-eared fox mainly in its more primitive dentition.[6]
Fossil distribution
Fossil remains of P. curvipalatus were recovered from the early Pleistocene Upper Siwaliks horizon of the Siwalik Hills, India (Colbert 1935; Pilgrim 1932).
Fossils of P recki have been found in the Olduvai Gorge area of Tanzania.[6]
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