Borophagini is a clade or tribe of the subfamily

Borophaginae The extinct Borophaginae form one of three subfamilies found within the canid family. The other two canid subfamilies are the extinct Hesperocyoninae and extant Caninae. Borophaginae, called "bone-crushing dogs", were endemic to North America ...

. This is an extinct group of

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

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 ...

s that were endemic and widespread throughout North America and

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

which lived during the

Geringian The Geringian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 30,800,000 to 26,300,000 years BP, a period of . It is usuall ...

stage of the Oligocene epoch to the

Zanclean The Zanclean is the lowest stage or earliest age on the geologic time scale of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 5.332 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago) and 3.6 ± 0.005 Ma. It is preceded by the Messinian Age of the Miocene Epoch, and ...

age of the

Early Pliocene Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

living 30.8—3.6 Mya existing approximately .

Biology

Borophagini were short-faced, heavy-jawed canids, usually massive in size. They were primarily

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other s ...

s but dentition demonstrates omnivore traits.

Taxonomy

''Borophagini'' was named by Simpson (1945) redited to Simpson because he named Borophaginae It was assigned to Borophaginae by Wang et al. (1999) and Wang et al. (2004).

Clade

The clade includes: ''

Cormocyon ''Cormocyon'' is an extinct genus of borophagine canid native to North America. It lived from the Oligocene to the Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of ...

'', ''

Desmocyon ''Desmocyon'' is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. It lived from the Late Oligocene to the Early Miocene, 24.8—16.3 Annum, Mya, existing for approximately . It is a rarely found genus, with fossil ...

'', '' Metatomarctus'', '' Euoplocyon'', '' Psalidocyon'', ''

Microtomarctus ''Microtomarctus'' is an extinct monotypic taxon, monospecific genus of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. It lived during the Early to Middle Miocene, and existed for approximately . Fossil specimens have been found i ...

'', ''

Protomarctus ''Protomarctus'' is an extinct monotypic taxon, monospecific genus of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. They lived during the Middle Miocene 16.0—13.6 Mya (unit), Mya, existing for approximately . It was an intermed ...

'', and '' Tephrocyon''.

Subtaxa and sister taxa

The subtaxa or subtribes are: '' Aelurodontina'', '' Borophagina'', and ''

Cynarctina Cynarctina is an extinct clade of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. They lived from the Early to Middle Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). Th ...

''. ''

Phlaocyonini Phlaocyonini is an extinct clade or tribe of hypocarnivorous borophagines (bone-crushing dogs). They were endemic to North America and from the Oligocene epoch (Whitneyan stage) to the Miocene ( Early Barstovian) living ~33.3–5.3 Ma, exi ...

'' is a sister taxon.

Fossil distribution

With the clade comprising many genus and subtaxa, the distribution of

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

specimens for ''Borophagini'' is widespread throughout the entire continent extending from coast to coast as well as

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

to western

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

Resources

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4946288 Zanclean extinctions Mammal tribes