Prototocyon

Prototocyon; Temporal range: Late Pliocene - Early Pleistocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Canidae
Genus:	†Prototocyon; Pohle, 1928
Type species
	†Prototocyon curvipalatus; Bose, 1880
Species
	P. curvipalatus; P. recki;
Synonyms
	†Sivacyon;

Prototocyon or Sivacyon is an extinct genus of small omnivorous canid living during the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene.[1]

Taxonomy

Prototocyon was named by Pohle (1928) and was assigned to Canidae by Carroll (1988).[2] Old literature relates it to Vulpes bengalensis, but not more modern literature (e.g. McKenna and Bell.[3][4]) Tedford et al. 2009 suggest that Prototocyon and Otocyon form a clade.

Description

Prototocyon was a small canine similar to the bat-eared fox in overall morphology and likely in habits as well. It differed from the modern bat-eared fox mainly in its more primitive dentition.[5]

Fossil distribution

Fossil remains of P. curvipalatus were recovered from the early Pleistocene Upper Siwaliks horizon of the Siwalik Hills, India (Colbert 1935; Pilgrim 1932).

Fossils of P recki have been found by the Olduvai gorge area in Tanzania.[5]

References

Dogs: their fossil relatives and evolutionary history, Xiaoming Wang, Richard H. Tedford, Mauricio Antón
R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company
McKenna, M. C., and S. K. Bell. 1997. Classification of mammals above the species level. Columbia University Press, New York.
Mammalian Species No. 795, pp. 1–5, 3 figs. Vulpes bengalensis. By Matthew E. Gompper and Abi Tamim Vanak, Archived 2010-06-21 at the Wayback Machine Published 9 August 2006 by the American Society of Mammalogists
Werdelin, Lars; Sanders, William Joseph (2010). Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press. p. 612. ISBN 9780520257214.

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[1] Dogs: their fossil relatives and evolutionary history, Xiaoming Wang, Richard H. Tedford, Mauricio Antón

[2] R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company

[3] McKenna, M. C., and S. K. Bell. 1997. Classification of mammals above the species level. Columbia University Press, New York.

[4] Mammalian Species No. 795, pp. 1–5, 3 figs. Vulpes bengalensis. By Matthew E. Gompper and Abi Tamim Vanak, Archived 2010-06-21 at the Wayback Machine Published 9 August 2006 by the American Society of Mammalogists

[Werdelin-5] Werdelin, Lars; Sanders, William Joseph (2010). Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press. p. 612. ISBN 9780520257214.