''Tapocyon'' ("dog from
Tapo Canyon") is an
extinct genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of placental mammals from clade
Carnivoraformes
Carnivoraformes ("carnivoran-like forms") is a clade of Placentalia, placental mammals that includes the modern order Carnivora and its extinct stem-relatives.
Classification and phylogeny Classification
In 2010 Flynn, Finarelli & Spaulding name ...
, that lived in
North America during the middle
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...
.
[J. J. Flynn (1998.) "Early Cenozoic Carnivora ("Miacoidea")." In C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs (''eds.'']
"Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. Volume 1: Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulatelike Mammals."
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ''Tapocyon'' was about the size of a
coyote and is believed to have been a good climber that spent a lot of time in trees.
Phylogeny
The phylogenetic relationships of genus ''Tapocyon'' are shown in the following cladogram:
See also
*
Mammal classification
Mammalia is a class of animal within the phylum Chordata. Mammal classification has been through several iterations since Carl Linnaeus initially defined the class. No classification system is universally accepted; McKenna & Bell (1997) and Wilso ...
*
Carnivoraformes
Carnivoraformes ("carnivoran-like forms") is a clade of Placentalia, placental mammals that includes the modern order Carnivora and its extinct stem-relatives.
Classification and phylogeny Classification
In 2010 Flynn, Finarelli & Spaulding name ...
*
Miacidae
Miacids are extinct primitive carnivoramorphans within the family Miacidae that lived during the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, about 62–34 million years ago. Miacids existed for approximately .
Miacids are thought to have evolved into the ...
References
†
Miacids
Extinct animals of the United States
Prehistoric placental genera
Eocene mammals of North America
{{paleo-mammal-stub