Cynelos

Cynelos
Temporal range: 23.3–7 Ma

Early Miocene - Middle Miocene

C. lemanensis skull
Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Caniformia
Family: Amphicyonidae
Subfamily: Amphicyoninae
Genus: Cynelos
Jourdan, 1862
Species
  • †C. caroniavorus
  • †C. euryodon
  • †C. idoneus
  • †C. lemanensis
  • †C. macrodon
  • †C. sinapius

Cynelos is a large extinct genus of terrestrial carnivores belonging to the suborder Caniformia, family Amphicyonidae ("bear dog"), and which inhabited North America, Europe Asia, and Africa from the Early Miocene subepoch to the Late Miocene subepoch 24.8—7.2 Mya, existing for approximately 17.6 million years.[1]

Dentition of this animal displayed only the characteristics of a carnivore.[2]

Taxonomy

Cynelos was named by Jourdan in 1862 as type European C. lemanensis (Europe). Its type is Amphicyon lemanensis. It was assigned to Amphicyoninae by Hunt (1998) and Sach and Heizmann (2001); and to Amphicyonidae by Jourdan (1862), Carroll (1988)[3] and Morlo et al. (2007).

Morphology

Body mass

Mandible

A single specimen was examined by Legendre and Roth in 1988 for body mass. That specimen was estimated to weigh 84.4 kg (190 lb).[4]

Fossil distribution

Bhagothoro, Pakistan; West Turkana, Kenya; Uganda, Wadi Moghra, Egypt; Skull Spring, Oregon; Gilchrist County, Florida (Thomas Farm), Pollack Farm, Delaware; Santa Ana Mountains, Orange County, California.

Species

Sister genera

Amphicyon, Ischyrocyon (synonymous with Hadrocyon), Pliocyon, Pseudocyon (synonymous with Amphicyonopsis), Ysengrinia.

Sources

  1. ↑ Paleobiology Database: Cynelos, age range and collections
  2. ↑ Q. Ji, Z.-X. Luo, C.-X. J.R. Yuan Wible, J.-P. Zhang, and J.A. Georgi. 2002. The earliest known eutherian mammal. Nature 416:816-822
  3. ↑ R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York 1-698
  4. ↑ S. Legendre and C. Roth. 1988. Correlation of carnassial tooth size and body weight in recent carnivores (Mammalia). Historical Biology 1(1):85-98
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