''Metalopex'' is an extinct hypocarnivorous

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 ...

mammal similar to ''

Vulpes '' Vulpes '' is a genus of the sub-family Caninae. The members of this genus are colloquially referred to as true foxes, meaning they form a proper clade. The word " fox" occurs in the common names of all species of the genus, but also appea ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to Late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), 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 mea ...

North America. Its

sister taxon In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

is the extant ''

Urocyon ''Urocyon'' (Greek: "tailed dog") is a genus of Canidae which includes the gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus'') and the island fox (''Urocyon littoralis''). These two fox species are found in the Western Hemisphere. Whole genome sequencing i ...

''; together, the two genera form a clade based on dentition. These same dental characteristics are shared by ''

Otocyon The bat-eared fox (''Otocyon megalotis'') is a species of fox found on the African savanna. It is the only extant species of the genus ''Otocyon'' and considered a basal canid species. Fossil records indicate this canid first appeared during t ...

'' and ''

Protocyon ''Protocyon'' is an extinct genus of large canid endemic to South and North America during the Late Pleistocene living from 781 to 12thousand years ago. Description ''Protocyon'' was a hypercarnivore, suggested by its dental adaptations. Like ma ...

''.

References

Vulpini Miocene mammals of North America Prehistoric canids Taxa named by Richard H. Tedford Prehistoric carnivoran genera {{canid-stub