Trigonictis macrodon
Extinct species of carnivore
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Trigonictis macrodon is an extinct species of mammal related to the living grison (genus Galictis). It lived in North America during the Pliocene to Pleistocene epochs, from ~4.1–1.6 Ma. (AEO),[1] existing for approximately 2.5 million years. Fossil specimens have been found across the United States, from Washington and Oregon in the northwest to California and Florida in the south.[2]
| Trigonictis macrodon Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Mustelidae |
| Genus: | †Trigonictis |
| Species: | †T. macrodon |
| Binomial name | |
| †Trigonictis macrodon Cope, 1868 | |
Morphology and diet
Trigonictis is most closely related to the modern neotropical galictines, Sminthosinis and possibly Canimartes.[3] According to Kurtén and Anderson, Trigonictis macrodon was about the size of the modern fisher, quickly moving and very capable of swimming. It was closely related to a group of galictine mustelids and reached the New World in the Middle Pliocene. Its diet was probably the rabbit Hypolagus, ground squirrels, and young beavers.[4]