''Prohesperocyon'' ("before '' Hesperocyon''") is an extinct genus of the first canid endemic to

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 ...

appearing during the Late Eocene around 36.6

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( AEO).

Fossil distribution

''Prohesperocyon wilsoni'' was unearthed at the Airstrip (TMM 40504) site, Presidio County, Texas dating between 36.6 and 36.5 million years ago.Paleobiology Database Collection 16888
revised on 2002-06-03, John Alroy. This fossil species bears a combination of features that definitively mark it as a Canidae, including teeth that include the loss of the upper third molar (a general trend in canids toward a more shearing bite), and the characteristically enlarged bony

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(the rounded covering over the middle ear). Based on what we know about its descendants, ''Prohesperocyon'' likely had slightly more elongated limbs than its predecessors, along with toes that were parallel and closely touching, rather than splayed, as in bears.

References

Eocene carnivorans Transitional fossils Prehistoric carnivoran genera Prehistoric mammals of North America Taxa named by Xiaoming Wang Fossil taxa described in 1986 {{paleo-carnivora-stub