Theriodictis

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Theriodictis
Temporal range: 1–0.4  Ma
Museo Malvinas - Craneo fosil de Theriodictis platensis.jpg
Fossil skull in the Museo Malvinas e Islas del Atlántico Sur, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Subfamily: Caninae
Tribe: Canini
Genus:† Theriodictis
Mercerat, 1891
Type species
†T. platensis
Other species
  • †?T. floridanus?

Theriodictis is an extinct genus of canid endemic to South America during the Middle Pleistocene.

Contents

Taxonomy and evolution

Life reconstruction Theriodictis platensis Wikipedia Juandertal.jpg
Life reconstruction

The type specimen T. platensis is a sister taxon to Canis gezi. [1] [2] One taxonomic authority proposes that the species T. tarijensis falls under the genus Protocyon . [3] It was a large sized canid; body weight for adult specimens of Theriodictis platensis has been estimated at around 30 to 40 kg. The dental diagnostic trait is found in the hypocone of M1 which is reduced in comparison with that of other genera. [4]

Range

The fossil remains have been discovered in the Tarija Formation of Bolivia, the Chui Formation of southern Brazil, and the Yupoí Formation of northern Argentina. [5] The fossil record of T. platensis has been constrained to the Late Ensenadan age (1Ma - 0.4Ma) of South America. [6] Consequently, T. platensis is considered an index fossil for the Ensenadan, and is endemic to this period (1.8Ma - 0.4Ma). [7]

Possible remains (designated as T. floridanus) have been unearthed in Florida and date to the Irvingtonian stage of North America, [1] [8] although this classification has been disputed. [9]

Paleoecology

Competition

Theriodictis may have displaced the smaller Protocyon in competitive interactions, as per coyotes and wolves. [10]

Predatory behaviour

Prey is thought to have included ungulate camelids (e.g. guanaco), cervids (e.g. Epieurycerus and Antifer ), equids (e.g. Equus and Hippidion ), peccaries (e.g. Catagonus ), giant rodents (e.g. Neochoerus ), mesotherids (e.g. the burrowing Mesotherium ), and giant cingulates (e.g. Eutatus , Propraopus and Pampatherium ). [11]

References

  1. 1 2 Tedford, Richard H.; Wang, Xiaoming; Taylor, Beryl E. (2009-09-03). "Phylogenetic Systematics of the North American Fossil Caninae (Carnivora: Canidae)". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 325: 1–218. doi:10.1206/574.1. ISSN   0003-0090.
  2. ↑ Chichkoyan, Karina Vanesa; Figueirido, Borja; Belinchón, Margarita; Lanata, José Luis; Moigne, Anne-Marie; Martínez-Navarro, Bienvenido (2017-05-09). "Direct evidence of megamammal-carnivore interaction decoded from bone marks in historical fossil collections from the Pampean region". PeerJ. 5 e3117. doi: 10.7717/peerj.3117 . ISSN   2167-8359. PMC   5426367 . PMID   28503369.
  3. ↑ Prevosti, Francisco J.; Forasiepi, Analía M. (2010). "Phylogeny of the large extinct South American Canids (Mammalia, Carnivora, Canidae) using a "total evidence" approach". Cladistics. 26 (5): 456–481. doi:10.1111/j.1096-0031.2009.00298.x.
  4. ↑ Perini, F. A.; Russo, C. a. M.; Schrago, C. G. (2010). "The evolution of South American endemic canids: a history of rapid diversification and morphological parallelism". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 23 (2): 311–322. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01901.x. ISSN   1420-9101.
  5. ↑ Hadler Rodrigues, Patricia; Prevosti, Francisco Juan; Ferigolo, Jorge; Ribeiro, Ana Maria (January–June 2004). "Novos materiais de Carnivora para o Pleistoceno do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil". Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia (Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia). 7 (1): 77–86 – via ResearchGate.
  6. ↑ Prevosti, F. J.; Tonni, E. P.; Bidegain, J. C. (2009-12-01). "Stratigraphic range of the large canids (Carnivora, Canidae) in South America, and its relevance to quaternary biostratigraphy". Quaternary International. The Ensenadan Stage/Age in southern South America. 210 (1): 76–81. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2009.06.034. ISSN   1040-6182.
  7. ↑ Gasparini, Germán Mariano; Soibelzon, Esteban; Soibelzon, Leopoldo Héctor; Cruz, Laura Edith (2023-05-15). "BIOESTRATIGRAFÍA BASADA EN MAMÍFEROS: CAMBIOS FAUNÍSTICOS E INFERENCIAS PALEOCLIMÁTICAS DURANTE EL CUATERNARIO EN LA REGIÓN PAMPEANA (ARGENTINA)". Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina (in Spanish). 23 (1): 296–316. doi:10.5710/PEAPA.29.11.2022.408. ISSN   2469-0228.
  8. ↑ Morgan, Gary S.; Ridgway, Brian R. (1987). "Late Pliocene (Late Blancan) vertebrates from the St. Petersburg Times site, Pinellas County, Florida, with a brief review of Florida Blancan faunas | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2025-04-06.
  9. ↑ Schubert, Blaine W.; Chatters, James C.; Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquin; Samuels, Joshua X.; Soibelzon, Leopoldo H.; Prevosti, Francisco J.; Widga, Christopher; Nava, Alberto; Rissolo, Dominique; Erreguerena, Pilar Luna (2019-05-31). "Yucatán carnivorans shed light on the Great American Biotic Interchange". Biology Letters. 15 (5) 20190148. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2019.0148. ISSN   1744-957X. PMC   6548739 . PMID   31039726.
  10. ↑ Prevosti, F.J.; Zurita, A.E.; Carlini, A.A. (Oct 2005). "Biostratigraphy, systematics, and paleoecology of Protocyon Giebel, 1855 (Carnivora, Canidae) in South America". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 20 (1–2): 5–12. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2005.05.005.
  11. ↑ Prevosti, Francisco Juan; Palmqvist, Paul (2001). "Análisis ecomorfológico del cánido hipercarnívoro Theriodictis platensis Mercerat (Mammalia, Carnivora), basado en un nuevo ejemplar del Pleistoceno de Argentina". Ameghiniana (in Spanish). 38 (4): 375–384. ISSN   1851-8044.
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