''Lycaon'' is a

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 canid which includes the African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus'') and the extinct ''

Lycaon sekowei ''Lycaon sekowei'' is an extinct canid species from southern Africa that lived during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. Like '' L. pictus'', the other species in the genus that is alive today, ''L. sekowei'' was a hypercarnivore A hypercarn ...

''.

Taxonomy

This

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 ...

and highly

cursorial A cursorial organism is one that is adapted specifically to run. An animal can be considered cursorial if it has the ability to run fast (e.g. cheetah) or if it can keep a constant speed for a long distance (high endurance). "Cursorial" is often u ...

genus is distinguished by accessory cusps on the

premolar The premolars, also called premolar teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the canine and molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per quadrant in the permanent set of teeth, making eight premolars total in the mouth ...

s. It branched from the wolflike canids lineage during the

Plio-Pleistocene The Plio-Pleistocene is an informally described geological pseudo-period, which begins about 5 million years ago (Mya) and, drawing forward, combines the time ranges of the formally defined Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs—marking from about 5&nbs ...

. Since then, ''Lycaon'' has become lighter and

tetradactyl In biology, dactyly is the arrangement of digits (fingers and toes) on the hands, feet, or sometimes wings of a tetrapod animal. It comes from the Greek word δακτυλος (''dáktylos'') = "finger". Sometimes the ending "-dactylia" is used ...

, but has remained hypercarnivorous. ''Lycaon sekowei'' is known from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of South Africa and was less

. Some researchers consider the extinct ''Canis''

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

'' Xenocyon'' as ancestral to both ''Lycaon'' and ''

Cuon The dhole (''Cuon alpinus''; ) is a canid native to Central, South, East and Southeast Asia. Other English names for the species include Asian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, Indian wild dog, whistling dog, red dog, red wolf, and mountain wolf. It ...

''. Other researchers propose that the extinct '' Canis (Xenocyon) falconeri'' and '' Canis (Xenocyon) lycaonoides'' should be classified under genus ''Lycaon'', to give the descent of 3 chronospecies: ''L. falconeri'' in the Late Pliocene of Eurasia → ''L. lycaonoides'' in the Early Pleistocene and the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene of Eurasia and Africa → ''L. pictus'' in the Middle–Late Pleistocene and today the extant African descendant.

References

{{Authority control African wild dogs Mammal genera Mammal genera with one living species Taxa named by Joshua Brookes

Taxonomy

See also

References