Carpocyon

Carpocyon
Temporal range: Middle Miocene–Late Miocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Subfamily: Borophaginae
Tribe: Borophagini
Subtribe: Borophagina
Genus: Carpocyon
Webb, 1969
Type species
Carpocyon limosus
Webb, 1969
Range of Carpocyon based on fossil distribution

Carpocyon is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. It lived from the Middle to the Late Miocene, 13.6 to 5.3 Ma Mya,[1] existing for approximately 16.5 million years. The four species in the genus varied in size, with the largest (C. webbi) being about the size of a wolf; all had relatively small teeth, suggesting a diet that was more omnivorous than that of other contemporary borophagines.[2]

  1. ^ PaleoBiology Database: Carpocyon Taxonomy, Species
  2. ^ Wang, Xiaoming; Tedford, Richard H. (2008). Dogs, Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History. Columbia. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-231-13528-3.