Enhydrocyon Explained

Enhydrocyon is an extinct genus of bone crushing canid which inhabited North America during the Oligocene and Early Miocene, 30.8—20.4 Ma, existing for approximately .^[1]

Enhydrocyon dentition suggests this animal was a hypercarnivore or mesocarnivore.^[2] Species of Enhydrocyon were relatively large, powerfully built carnivores with a short snout and deep jaws reminiscent of a jaguar.^[3] These features give the skull a shape resembling that of the extant sea otter (Enhydra), prompting the scientific name. With an estimated weight of about, this was the earliest genus of canid adapted to be specialized predators.^[4]

Species

• †Enhydrocyon basilatus Cope 1879
• †E. crassidens Matthew 1907
• †E. pahinsintewakpa Macdonald 1963
• †E. sectorius Cope 1883
• †E. stenocephalus Cope 1879

References

• Wang . X. . 1994 . Phylogenetic systematics of the Hesperocyoninae (Carnivora, Canidae) . Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History . 221 . 1–207 . 2246/829 .

Notes and References

1. http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=41211
2. R. M. Nowak. 1991. Walker's Mammals of the World. Maryland, Johns Hopkins University Press (edited volume) II
3. David Macdonald. The Velvet Claw: A Natural History of the Carnivores. BBC Books: London; 1992. p83.
4. Book: Wang . Xiaoming . Tedford . Richard H. . 2008 . Dogs, Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History . Columbia . 27 . 978-0-231-13528-3.