''Mececyon trinilensis'', the Trinil dog, is an extinct canid species that lived in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), 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 fina ...

Description

The body size of ''Mececyon trinilensis'' been estimated to be about 22 kg. This size is the result of insular dwarfism.

Habitat and ecology

''Mececyon trinilensis'' is endemic to the island of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

. It was part of the Pleistocene

Trinil Fauna The Trinil Fauna is a biostratigraphic faunal assemblage composed from several Javanese sites by Ralph von Koenigswald. Von Koenigswald assigned the early hominid fossils Java Man Java Man (''Homo erectus erectus'', formerly also ''Anthropopit ...

of Java. Other animals of this

Faunal assemblage In archaeology and paleontology a faunal assemblage is a group of associated animal fossils found together in a given stratum. The principle of faunal succession is used in biostratigraphy to determine each biostratigraphic unit, or biozone. The ...

were ''

Bos palaesondaicus ''Bos palaesondaicus'' occurred on Pleistocene Java (Indonesia) and belongs to the Bovinae subfamily. It has been described by the Dutch paleoanthropologist Eugène Dubois in 1908.Dubois, E. (1908). Das Geologische Alter der Kendengoder Trinil ...

'', the Indian muntjak (''Muntiacus muntjak''), ''

Bubalus ''Bubalus'' is a genus of Asiatic bovines that was proposed by Charles Hamilton Smith in 1827. ''Bubalus'' and '' Syncerus'' form the subtribe Bubalina, the true buffaloes. The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and classification of ...

palaeokerabau'', the

Dubois santeng ''Duboisia santeng'' or Dubois' antelope is an extinct antelope-like bovid that was endemic to Indonesia during the Pleistocene. It went extinct during the Ionian stage of the Pleistocene, about 750.000 years ago. ''Duboisia santeng'' was first d ...

and '' Stegodon trigonocephalus''. Other predators of the Trinil Fauna were the

Trinil tiger ''Panthera tigris trinilensis'', known as the Trinil tiger, is an extinct tiger subspecies dating from about 1.2 million years ago that was found at the locality of Trinil, Java, Indonesia. The fossil remains are now stored in the Dubois Collect ...

(''Panthera tigris trinilensis'') and the

leopard cat The leopard cat (''Prionailurus bengalensis'') is a small wild cat native to continental South, Southeast, and East Asia. Since 2002 it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List as it is widely distributed although threatened by hab ...

(''Prionailurus bengalensis'').Christine Hertler/ Yan Rizal (2005): Excursion guide to the Pleistocene Hominid Sites in Central and East Java, Johann Wolfgang Geothe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany/ ITB, Bandung, Indonesia It has been estimated that ''Mececyon trinilensis'' hunted prey of 1 kg to 10 kg, preferably 5 kg in size. However this number could vary, because it is yet unknown if the ''Mececyon trinilensis'' hunted in packs, or if carrion left over by the Trinil tiger influenced its feeding habits.

Evolution

''Mececyon trinilensis'' probably evolved from '' Xenocyon lycanoides'', like the larger Indonesian Merriam's dog (''

Megacyon merriami ''Megacyon merriami'', or Merriam's dog, was a prehistoric canid that lived in the early/middle Pleistocene (about 800-300 thousand years ago). Its fossilized remains have been found on the island of Java. Its scientific name means "Merriam's lar ...

'') and the

Sardinian dhole The Sardinian dhole (''Cynotherium sardous'') is an extinct insular canid which was endemic to what is now the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia (Italy) and Corsica (France), which were joined for much of the Pleistocene. It went extinct when h ...

(''Cynotherium sardous''). Its closest living relatives are the African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus)'' and the dhole (''Cuon alpinus''). The Trinil dog went extinct in the course of the Pleistocene. There is currently no evidence that this species survived into the

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3853467 Prehistoric canines Pleistocene mammals of Asia Extinct animals of Indonesia