''Theriodictis'' 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 ...

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 ...

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

-like

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 ...

endemic to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

, living from 1.2 Ma- 500,000 years ago and existing for approximately .

Fossil distribution

The fossil remains are confined to the Tarija Formation of Bolivia, the Chui Formation of southern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and the Yupoí Formation of northern

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

.''Theriodictis''
at Fossilworks.org The species ''T. tarijense'' was transferred to the genus ''

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 ...

'' upon phylogenetic analysis.

Description

Theriodictis platensis Wikipedia Juandertal

It was a large sized canid; body weight for adult specimens of ''Theriodictis platensis'' has been estimated at around 30 to 40 kg. The dental diagnostic trait is found in the hypocone of M1 which is reduced in comparison with that of other genera.

Paleoecology

Prey is thought to have included

ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, ...

camelid Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, ...

s (e.g.

guanaco The guanaco (; ''Lama guanicoe'') is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids, the other being the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations. Etymology The guanaco ...

), cervids (e.g. '' Epieurycerus'' and ''

Antifer ''Antifer'' is an extinct genus of large herbivorous deer of the family (biology), family Cervidae, endemic to South America during the Pleistocene, living from 2.6 Annum, Ma to 13,000 years ago and existing for approximately .

''), equids (e.g. '' Equus'' and ''

Hippidion ''Hippidion'' (meaning ''little horse'') is an extinct genus of equine that lived in South America from the Late Pliocene to the end of the Late Pleistocene ( Lujanian), between two million and 11,000 years ago. They were one of two lineages of e ...

''),

peccaries A peccary (also javelina or skunk pig) is a medium-sized, pig-like hoofed mammal of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North ...

(e.g. ''

Catagonus ''Catagonus'' is a genus of peccaries that contains the living Chacoan peccary and several extinct species. The genus has always been restricted to South America. Taxonomy ''Catagonus'' is notable in that the type species, '' C. metropolitanus'' ...

''), giant rodents (e.g. ''

Neochoerus ''Neochoerus'' ("new hog") is an extinct genus of rodent closely related to the living capybara. Fossil remains of ''Neochoerus'' have been found through North America (México and United States) and South America in Boyacá, Colombia C ...

''), mesotherids (e.g. the burrowing ''

Mesotherium ''Mesotherium'' ("Middle Beast") is an extinct genus of mesotheriid, a long-lasting family of superficially rodent-like, burrowing notoungulates from South America. It one of the youngest notoungulates, and the last known member of Typotheria. I ...

''), and giant cingulates (e.g. ''

Eutatus ''Eutatus'' is an extinct genus of large armadillos of the family (biology), family Chlamyphoridae. It was endemic to South America from the Miocene, Early Miocene to Late Pleistocene, living from 17.5 Annum, Ma-11,000 years ago, with possible su ...

'', '' Propraopus'' and '' Pampatherium'').F.J. Prevosti; P. Plamqvist, 2001, Ameghiniana 38: 375-384

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7782990 Cerdocyonina Prehistoric canines Prehistoric carnivoran genera Pleistocene carnivorans Pleistocene genus extinctions Pleistocene mammals of South America Ensenadan Lujanian Pleistocene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Paraná Basin Pleistocene Bolivia Fossils of Bolivia Pleistocene Brazil Fossils of Brazil Fossil taxa described in 1891