Tapocyon

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Tapocyon[1]
Fossil range: middle Eocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivoramorpha
Family: †Miacidae
Genus: †Tapocyon
Stock, 1934
Type species
†Tapocyon occidentalis
Species
  • †Tapocyon dawsonae
  • †Tapocyon robustus

Tapocyon is an extinct genus of Miacidae, found in Oceanside, California.[2] It was about the size of a coyote[2] and is believed to have been a good climber who spent a lot of time in trees[2] Tapocyon was first discovered in Ventura County, when part of a jaw was found in the 1930's.[2]

[edit] Sources

  1. ^ Wesley, G. D. & Flynn, J. J., 2003: A revision of Tapocyon (Carnivoramorpha), including analysis of the first cranial specimens and identification of a new species. –Journal of Paleontology: Vol. 77, #4, pp. 769-783
  2. ^ a b c d www.sdnhm.org Retrieved on May 14th, 2008.

[edit] Further reading

  • Gittleman, J. A., ed. 1996. Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution. Ithaca, NY: Comstock Publishing.
  • Halls, Kelly M. 2005. Wild Dogs: Past & Present. Plain City, OH: Darby Creek Publishing.
  • Academy of Sciences, National (U.S.) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
  • The Terrestrial Eocene-Oligocene Transition in North America by Donald R. Prothero and Robert J. Emry; 1996 ISBN 0521433878
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