''Trigonictis macrodon'' is an extinct species of mammal related to the living
grison
A grison , , also known as a South American wolverine, is any mustelid in the genus ''Galictis''. Native to Central and South America, the genus contains two extant species: the greater grison (''Galictis vittata''), which is found widely in Sou ...
''(genus
Galictis)''. It lived in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
during the
Pliocene to
Pleistocene epochs, from ~4.1–1.6 Ma. (
AEO), existing for approximately . Fossil specimens have been found across the United States, from
Washington and
Oregon in the northwest to
California and
Florida in the south.
Morphology and diet
''Trigonictis'' is most closely related to the modern
neotropical galictines, ''
Sminthosinis'' and possibly ''
Canimartes.'' According to Kurtén and Anderson, ''Trigonictis macrodon'' was about the size of the modern
fisher
Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral.
Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to:
Places
Australia
*Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland
*Elect ...
, quickly moving and very capable of swimming. It was closely related to a group of galictine mustelids and reached the New World in the
Middle Pliocene
Middle or The Middle may refer to:
* Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits.
Places
* Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man
* Middle Bay (disambiguation)
* Middle Brook (disambiguation)
* Middle Creek ( ...
. Its diet was probably the rabbit ''
Hypolagus'',
ground squirrels, and young beavers.
[Kurten, Bjorn and Anderson, Elaine; Pleistocene mammals of North America, Columbia University Press, 1980. .]
References
* Y. Tomida. 1987. Small mammal fossils and correlation of continental deposits, Safford and Duncan basins, Arizona. National Science Museum 1-14
PaloDB
{{italictitle
Miocene mustelids
Prehistoric mammals of North America
Pleistocene extinctions