Prototocyon Explained

Prototocyon is an extinct genus of small omnivorous canid that lived during the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene.[1] It is closely related to the living bat-eared fox (Otocyon).

Taxonomy

Prototocyon was named by Pohle (1928) and was assigned to Canidae by Carroll (1988).[2] Old literature relates it to Vulpes bengalensis, but not more modern literature (e.g. McKenna and Bell.[3] [4] A 2013 study stated that the genus "is only doubtfully distinct from Otocyon" the genus of the living bat-eared fox.[5]

Description

Prototocyon was a small canine similar to the bat-eared fox in overall morphology and likely in habits as well. It differed from the modern bat-eared fox mainly in its more primitive dentition.[6]

Fossil distribution

Fossil remains of P. curvipalatus were recovered from the early Pleistocene Upper Siwaliks horizon of the Siwalik Hills, India (Colbert 1935; Pilgrim 1932).

Fossils of P recki have been found in the Olduvai Gorge area of Tanzania.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Dogs: their fossil relatives and evolutionary history . Wang . Xiaoming . Xiaoming Wang (paleontologist) . Richard H. . Tedford . Richard Tedford. Mauricio . Antón . Mauricio Antón.
  2. Book: Carroll, R. L. . 1988 . Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution . W.H. Freeman and Company.
  3. Book: McKenna . M. C. . S. K. . Bell . 1997 . Classification of mammals above the species level . Columbia University Press . New York.
  4. Mammalian Species No. 795, pp. 1–5, 3 figs. Vulpes bengalensis. . Matthew E. . Gompper . Abi Tamim . Vanak . https://web.archive.org/web/20100621050643/http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/VHAYSSEN/msi/pdf/i1545-1410-795-1-1.pdf . 2010-06-21 . 9 August 2006 . American Society of Mammalogists.
  5. Hartstone-Rose . Adam . Kuhn . Brian F. . Nalla . Shahed . Werdelin . Lars . Berger . Lee R. . February 2013 . A new species of fox from the Australopithecus sediba type locality, Malapa, South Africa . Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa . en . 68 . 1 . 1–9 . 10.1080/0035919X.2012.748698 . 0035-919X.
  6. Book: Werdelin . Lars . Sanders . William Joseph . Cenozoic Mammals of Africa . 2010 . University of California Press . 9780520257214 . 612.

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