''Actiocyon'' was an extinct genus of
ailurid that existed from the
Middle Miocene of
North America. The type species, ''Actiocyon leardi'', was described in 1947 by the American paleontologist
Chester Stock
Chester Stock (28 January 1892 – 7 December 1950) was an American paleontologist who specialized in the Pleistocene mammalian fauna of the Rancho La Brea tar pits. He served as a professor of geology at the California Institute of Technology, ...
.
Description
The holotype consisted of portions of a snout containing the palate with some teeth. Stock noted overall similarities to their contemporary genus ''
Alopecocyon'' of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
, though he tentatively classified ''Actiocyon'' as a
procyonid
Procyonidae is a New World family of the order Carnivora. It comprises the raccoons, ringtails, cacomistles, coatis, kinkajous, olingos, and olinguitos. Procyonids inhabit a wide range of environments and are generally omnivorous.
Characteri ...
due to the structure of fourth premolar and first molar.
Some later authors have suggested ''Actiocyon'' to be a junior synonym of ''Alopecocyon'',
though others have maintained the two as separated but related genera due to difference in dental and jaw morphology.
A second and earlier species, ''A. parverratis'', was described by Smith et al. (2016) and was the earliest known
simocyonine from North America.
[
]
References
Prehistoric mammals of North America
Prehistoric carnivoran genera
Ailuridae
Fossil taxa described in 1947
Miocene musteloids
{{paleo-carnivora-stub