Kingdom Animalia Suborder Caniformia Phylum Chordata Order Carnivores | Class Mammalia Family Canidae Rank Genus | |
Species P. orcesi P. tarijensis P. troglodytes Similar Theriodictis, Carnivores, Dusicyon avus, Eucyon, Osbornodon | ||
Prototcyon is an extinct genus of small omnivorous canid endemic to South America during the middle to Late Pleistocene living from 1.2 Ma to 11,000 years ago and existed for approximately 1.189 million years. Protocyon was a hypercarnivore, suggested by its dental adaptations. It hunted the medium-sized grazers and browers, but not the local megafauna although the young could've been preyed upon too. The find of a molar tooth found in the Santa Vitória formation in Brasil suggests a weight of more than 25 kilograms (55 lbs) but lower than 37 kilograms (82 lbs) for this particular specimen.
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Taxonomy
Protocyon was named by Giebel (1855) and was assigned to Canidae by Carroll (1988).
Fossil distribution
The fossil remains are confined to South America with specimens uncovered from Chuquisaca, Bolivia as well as Buenos Aires, Argentina and two sites in Brazil.