Protocyon

Last updated

Protocyon
Temporal range: Late Pliocene-Late Pleistocene
~2.6–0.02  Ma
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
↓
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Tribe: Canini
Subtribe: Cerdocyonina
Genus:† Protocyon
Giebel, 1855
Type species
†Canis troglodytes
Lund, 1838
Species
  • †P. troglodytes(Lund, 1838)
  • †P.? tarijensis(Ameghino, 1902)
  • †P. scagliarumKraglievich, 1952
  • †P. orocualensisRuiz-Ramoni, Wang & Rincón, 2022
Synonyms

Protocyon (from Greek for "first dog") is an extinct genus of large canid endemic to South and possibly North America from the Late Pliocene to the Late Pleistocene.

Contents

Description

Protocyon was a hypercarnivore, suggested by its dental adaptations. Like many other large canids, it was most likely a pack hunter. It hunted the medium-sized grazers and browsers, and bite marks on fossils suggest that it may have hunted Glyptotherium . [1] The find of a molar tooth found in Santa Vitória do Palmar in Brazil suggests a weight of between 25 and 37 kilograms (55 and 82 pounds) for this particular specimen, [2] : 219  modest in size compared to other canids including the dire wolf. However, despite its size, isotopic analysis shows a dietary overlap with Smilodon populator , which implies it competed with the sabertooth cat for the same prey. [3]

Taxonomy

Protocyon was named by Giebel in 1855 and assigned to Canidae by Carroll in 1988. [4] : 634  The genus definitively contains P. troglodytes (with its junior synonym P. orcesi) and P. scagliarum. Some researchers propose that the species Theriodictis tarijensis falls under the genus Protocyon. [5] [6] In 2022, Ruiz-Ramoni, Wang & Rincón named a new species from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene strata, P. orocualensis. [7]

Palaeobiology

The diet of P. troglodytes included Notiomastodon platensis , Megatherium americanum , Toxodon platensis , Hippidion principale , and Equus neogeus . [8] In contrast to its contemporary carnivores S. populator and Arctotherium wingei, dental stable isotope evidence shows P. troglodytes in the Brazilian Intertropical Region (BIR) had a preference for open savanna environments. [9]

Fossil distribution

Fossils of Protocyon have been found in the Ñuapua and Tarija Formations of Bolivia, the Vorohue Formation of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Santa Elena Peninsula of Ecuador, Sopas Formation of Uruguay, Mene de Inciarte Tar Seep of Venezuela and various sites in Brazil, among others the Jandaíra Formation. [10]

Canid fossil material from the Hoyo Negro pit in the Sac Actun cave system (Mexico), initially identified as remains of a coyote, was reinterpreted as remains of P. troglodytes by Schubert et al. (2019), indicating that this taxon was also present in the southern part of North America. [11] : 2  The youngest known specimen of P. troglodytes is dated to 20,288-21,139 calibrated BP. [12]

References

  1. ↑ Araújo-Júnior, Hermínio Ismael de; Barbosa, Fernando Henrique de Souza; Silva, Lucas Henrique Medeiros da (February 2017). "Overlapping paleoichnology, paleoecology and taphonomy: Analysis of tooth traces in a Late Pleistocene-early Holocene megafaunal assemblage of Brazil and description of a new ichnotaxon in hard substrate". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 468. Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier: 122–128. Bibcode:2017PPP...468..122A. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.12.007. ISSN   0031-0182.
  2. ↑ Oliveira, Édison V.; Prevosti, Francisco J.; Pereira, Jamil C. (December 2005). "Protocyon Troglodytes (Lund) (Mammalia, Carnivora) in the late Pleistocene of Rio Grande Do Sul and their Paleoecological Significance" (PDF). Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia. 8 (3). Brazil: Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia: 215–220. ISSN   1519-7530. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 February 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  3. ↑ Bocherens, Hervé; Cotte, Martin; Bonini, Ricardo; Scian, Daniel; Straccia, Pablo; Soibelzon, Leopoldo; Prevosti, Francisco J. (1 May 2016). "Paleobiology of sabretooth cat Smilodon populator in the Pampean Region (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) around the Last Glacial Maximum: Insights from carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in bone collagen". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 449: 463–474. Bibcode:2016PPP...449..463B. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.02.017. hdl: 11336/43965 .
  4. ↑ Carroll, Robert Lynn (1988). Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution . New York: W. H. Freeman and Company. ISBN   978-0716718222. OCLC   453330574 . Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  5. ↑ Prevosti, F. J. (2023). "Sistemática de los grandes cánidos (Mammalia, Carnivora,Canidae) fósiles de América del Sur". Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina. 23 (1): 78–192. doi: 10.5710/PEAPA.28.10.2022.417 . S2CID   258872658.
  6. ↑ Prevosti, Francisco J.; Forasiepi, Analía M. (2010). "Phylogeny of the large extinct South American Canids (Mammalia, Carnivora, Canidae) using a "total evidence" approach". Cladistics.
  7. ↑ Ruiz-Ramoni, Damián; Wang, Xiaoming; Rincón, Ascanio D. (2022). "Canids (Caninae) from the Past of Venezuela" . Ameghiniana. 59: 448. Bibcode:2022Amegh..59..448R. doi:10.5710/AMGH.16.09.2021.3448. S2CID   240576546.
  8. ↑ Prevosti, Francisco J.; Schubert, Blaine W. (14 August 2013). "First taxon date and stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) for the large hypercarnivorous South American canid Protocyon troglodytes (Canidae, Carnivora)". Quaternary International . 305: 67–73. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.07.003. hdl: 11336/9341 . Retrieved 10 April 2025– via Elsevier Science Direct.
  9. ↑ Dantas, Mário André Trindade; Bernardes, Camila; Asevedo, Lidiane; Rabito Pansani, Thaís; De Melo França, Lucas; Santos De Aragão, Wilcilene; Da Silva Santos, Franciely; Cravo, Elisa; Ximenes, Celso (4 March 2022). "Isotopic palaeoecology ( δ 13 C) of three faunivores from Late Pleistocene of the Brazilian intertropical region" . Historical Biology . 34 (3): 507–514. Bibcode:2022HBio...34..507D. doi:10.1080/08912963.2021.1933468. ISSN   0891-2963 . Retrieved 2 May 2024– via Taylor and Francis Online.
  10. ↑ Alroy, John, ed. (2021). "Protocyon Giebel 1855 (canid)". Fossilworks . Sydney: Macquarie University . Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  11. ↑ Schubert, Blaine W.; et al. (2019). "Yucatán carnivorans shed light on the Great American Biotic Interchange". Biology Letters . 15 (5). London: Royal Society: 1–6. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0148 . PMC   6548739 . PMID   31039726. 20190148.
  12. ↑ Prevosti, F.J.; Schubert, B.W. (2013). "First taxon date and stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) for the large hypercarnivorous South American canid Protocyon troglodytes (Canidae, Carnivora)". Quaternary International. 305: 67–73. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2012.07.003.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.