Pyrocyon

Pyrocyon
Temporal range: 55.8–50.3 Ma Wasatchian
parts of upper and lower jaws of Pyrocyon strenuus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Hyaenodonta
Genus: †Pyrocyon
Gingerich & Deustch, 1989
Type species
†Pyrocyon dioctetus
Gingerich & Deustch, 1989
Species
  • †P. dioctetus (Gingerich & Deustch, 1989)[1]
  • †P. strenuus (Cope, 1875)[2]
Synonyms
synonyms of genus:
  • Pirocyon (Lavrov, 1999)[3]
synonyms of species:
  • P. strenuus:
    • Prototomus strenuus (Cope, 1875)
    • Stypolophus aculeatus (Cope, 1881)
    • Stypolophus hians (Cope, 1877)
    • Stypolophus strenuus (Cope, 1880)
    • Stypolophus whiteae (Cope, 1882)[4]
    • Stypolophus whitiae (Cope, 1882)
    • Sinopa aculeata (Matthew, 1899)
    • Sinopa hians (Matthew, 1901)
    • Sinopa strenua (Matthew, 1899)
    • Sinopa strenuus (Matthew, 1901)
    • Sinopa whitiae (Cope, 1882)
    • Tritemnodon hians (Van Valen, 1965)[5]
    • Tritemnodon strenua (Van Valen, 1965)
    • Tritemnodon strenuus (Van Valen, 1965)
    • Tritemnodon whitiae (Matthew, 1906)

Pyrocyon ("fire dog") is an extinct genus of small carnivorous placental mammals from extinct order Hyaenodonta, that lived in North America during the early Eocene. Fossils of Pyrocyon have been found in Wyoming and Colorado.[6] Weight of Pyrocyon dioctetus has been estimated at around 2.6 kilograms.[7]

  1. ^ Gingerich, Philip D.; Harvey A. Deutsch (1989). "Systematics and evolution of early Eocene Hyaenodontidae (Mammalia, Creodonta) in the Clarks Fork Basin, Wyoming". Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan. 27 (13): 327–391.
  2. ^ E. D. Cope. (1875.) "Systematic Catalogue of Vertebrata of the Eocene of New Mexico, Collected in 1874." Geographical Explorations and Surveys West of the 100th Meridian, Engineer Department, U. S. Army 5-37
  3. ^ A. V. Lavrov (1999.) "Adaptive Radiation of Hyaenodontinae (Creodonta, Hyaenodontidae) of Asia." in 6th Congress of the Theriological Society, Moscow, April 13–16, p. 138 [in Russian].
  4. ^ E. D. Cope (1882.) "Contributions to the history of the Vertebrata of the lower Eocene of Wyoming and New Mexico, made during 1881." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 20(111):139-197
  5. ^ L. Van Valen (1965.) "Some European Proviverrini (Mammalia, Deltatheridia)." Palaeontology 8(4):638-665
  6. ^ Paleobiology Database: Pyrocyon
  7. ^ Egi, Naoko (2001). "Body mass estimates in extinct mammals from limb bone dimensions: the case of North American hyaenodontids" (PDF). Palaeontology. 44 (3): 497–528. Bibcode:2001Palgy..44..497E. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00189. S2CID 128832577. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2015-08-28.