''Aelurodon'' is an extinct

canid Canidae (; from Latin, '' canis'', " dog") is a biological family of dog-like carnivorans, colloquially referred to as dogs, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid (). There are three subfamilies found withi ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of the subfamily

Borophaginae The extinct Borophaginae form one of three subfamilies found within the canid family. The other two canid subfamilies are the extinct Hesperocyoninae and extant Caninae. Borophaginae, called "bone-crushing dogs", were endemic to North America du ...

which lived from the

Barstovian The Barstovian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 16,300,000 to 13,600,000 years BP, a period of . It is usu ...

land mammal age () of the middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

to the

late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...

().Aelurodon, Age Range and Collections, PaleoBiology Database
yu ''Aelurodon'' existed for approximately .

Description

''Aelurodon'' are a part of a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

canids Canidae (; from Latin, ''canis'', " dog") is a biological family of dog-like carnivorans, colloquially referred to as dogs, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid (). There are three subfamilies found within ...

loosely known as "bone-crushing" or "hyena-like" dogs, that apparently descended from the earlier genera ''

Protomarctus ''Protomarctus'' is an extinct monotypic taxon, monospecific genus of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. They lived during the Middle Miocene 16.0—13.6 Mya (unit), Mya, existing for approximately . It was an intermed ...

'' and ''

Tomarctus ''Tomarctus'' is a canid genus of the extinct subfamily Borophaginae which inhabited most of North America during the late Early Miocene to the Early Barstovian age of the Middle Miocene (23—16 million years ago). ''Tomarctus'' existed for ...

''. Several species are known from fossils found in the central and western U.S., suggesting a wide geographic range during their peak in the

epoch. List of ''Aelurodon'' specimens from the Berkeley Natural History Museum. (Accessed 4/11/06) Large species of ''Aelurodon'' (''A. ferox'' and ''A. taxoides'') may have hunted in packs like modern

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

. The evolution of ''Aelurodon'' is characterized by the progressive development of teeth adapted to a more

hypercarnivorous A hypercarnivore is an animal which has a diet that is more than 70% meat, either via active predation or by scavenging. The remaining non-meat diet may consist of non-animal foods such as fungi, fruits or other plant material. Some extant exampl ...

diet, a trend consistent with other borophagines. The earliest occurrence of the genus is ''A. asthenostylus'' dating from 16. This species then gives rise to two different

anagenetic Anagenesis is the gradual evolution of a species that continues to exist as an interbreeding population. This contrasts with cladogenesis, which occurs when there is branching or splitting, leading to two or more lineages and resulting in separate ...

clades around 15 Ma. One comprises the species ''A. montaneis'', ''A. mcgrewi'' and ''A. stirtoni'', going extinct around 12 Ma. The other clade persists until and includes ''A. ferox'' and ''A. taxoides''. ''A. taxoides'' is the most derived and largest species in ''Aelurodon''.

Description

References

Further reading