Lophocyonidae is an extinct family of

feliform Feliformia is a suborder within the order Carnivora consisting of "cat-like" carnivorans, including cats (large and small), hyenas, mongooses, viverrids, and related taxa. Feliformia stands in contrast to the other suborder of Carnivora, Cani ...

carnivorans from the Miocene of Europe.Pilgrim, G. E. (1931). Catalogue of the pontian Carnivora of Europe. British Museum (Natural History): 1174.O. Fejfar, N. Schmidt-Kittler, and M. Zacharov. 1987. Lophocyon carpathicus n. gen. n. sp. aus dem Jungtertiaer der Ostslowakei und eine neue Unterfamilie der Schleichkatzen (Viverridae). Palaeontographica Abteilung A 199(1-3):1-22.

Taxonomy

Classification

Lophocyonidae was previously treated as a subfamily of Hyaenidae,

Procyonidae 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. Character ...

, or

Viverridae Viverridae is a family (biology), family of small to medium-sized, feliform mammals. The viverrids () comprise 33 species placed in 14 genera. This family was named and first described by John Edward Gray in 1821. Viverrids occur all over Africa, ...

, but Morales et al. (2019) recognized it as a distinct family in its own right. Distinguishing features of lophocyonids include the molarization of the anterior premolars (P3 and p4), the lophodont adaptation of the molar dentition and the complex morphology of the incisors.

Phylogenetic tree

The phylogenetic relationships of Lophocyonidae are shown in the following cladogram:

References

Miocene feliforms Miocene mammals of Europe Miocene first appearances Miocene extinctions Prehistoric carnivorans of Europe Prehistoric mammal families {{paleo-carnivora-stub