''Sunkahetanka'' is an extinct

monospecific In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genus of the

Hesperocyoninae The extinct Hesperocyoninae are one of three subfamilies found within the canid family. The other two canid subfamilies are the extinct Borophaginae and extant Caninae. Taxonomic history Hesperocyoninae are basal canids that gave rise to the o ...

subfamily of early

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 within the ...

s native 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 ...

. It lived during the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

, 30.8—26.3 Ma, existing for approximately .
''Sunkahetanka'' In form, it was intermediate between the small ''

Cynodesmus ''Cynodesmus'' ("dog link") is an extinct genus of omnivorous canine which inhabited North America during the Oligocene living from 33.3—-26.3 Ma and existed for approximately . ''Cynodesmus'' was one of the first canids to truly look dog-l ...

'' and the later ''

Enhydrocyon ''Enhydrocyon'' is an extinct genus of bone crushing Canidae, canid which inhabited North America during the Oligocene and Early Miocene, 30.8—20.4 Annum, Ma, existing for approximately . ''Enhydrocyon'' dentition suggests this animal was a h ...

'', the first hypercarnivorous, "bone-cracking", canid.

References

*Wang, X. 1994
Phylogenetic systematics of the Hesperocyoninae (Carnivora, Canidae)
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 221:1-207. Hesperocyonines Oligocene carnivorans Oligocene mammals of North America Prehistoric carnivoran genera Chattian genus extinctions Rupelian genus first appearances {{canid-stub