 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (September 2023) |
| Lonchocyon Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Mandible of Lonchocyon qiui | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Infraorder: | Arctoidea |
| Genus: | Lonchocyon Zhang et al., 2023 |
| Type species | |
| †Lonchocyon qiui Zhang et al., 2023
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Lonchocyon is an extinct genus of arctoid carnivorans, with possible affinities to amphicyonids or hemicyonine bears. It contains a single species, Lonchocyon qiui, known from a single left mandible discovered at the fossil-bearing locality Haerhada at the base of the Baron Sog Formation, which is located in Inner Mongolia, China, and dates to the late Eocene. This taxon is notable for its large size in comparison to other arctoid carnivorans of the Eocene epoch, and for its hypercarnivorous adaptions, most notably its large canine and strongly reduced premolars. The genus name is a combination of Greek lonch, meaning spear and referencing the spear-like paraconid on its lower carnassial, and cyon, meaning dog. The specific name honours Professor Zhan-Xiang Qiu.