Theriodictis Explained

Theriodictis is an extinct genus of hypercarnivorous wolf-like canid endemic to South America during the Pleistocene, living from 1.2 Ma- 500,000 years ago and existing for approximately .^{[1] [2] [3]}

Fossil distribution

The fossil remains are confined to the Tarija Formation of Bolivia, the Chui Formation of southern Brazil, and the Yupoí Formation of northern Argentina.^{[4] [5] [6]} The species T. tarijensis was transferred to the genus Protocyon upon phylogenetic analysis.

Description

It was a large sized canid; body weight for adult specimens of Theriodictis platensis has been estimated at around 30 to 40 kg. The dental diagnostic trait is found in the hypocone of M1 which is reduced in comparison with that of other genera.^[7]

Paleoecology

Prey is thought to have included ungulate camelids (e.g. guanaco), cervids (e.g. Epieurycerus and Antifer), equids (e.g. Equus and Hippidion), peccaries (e.g. Catagonus), giant rodents (e.g. Neochoerus), mesotherids (e.g. the burrowing Mesotherium), and giant cingulates (e.g. Eutatus, Propraopus and Pampatherium).^[8]

Notes and References

1. http://paleobackup.nceas.ucsb.edu:8110/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=41213&is_real_user=1{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Eucyon: Basic info.
2. Book: Evolution of South American Mammalian Predators During the Cenozoic: Paleobiogeographic and Paleoenvironmental Contingencies. Prevosti. Francisco J.. Forasiepi. Analía M.. 2018-01-02. Springer. 9783319037011. en.
3. Chichkoyan. Karina Vanesa. Figueirido. Borja. Belinchón. Margarita. Lanata. José Luis. Moigne. Anne-Marie. Martínez-Navarro. Bienvenido. 2017-05-09. Direct evidence of megamammal-carnivore interaction decoded from bone marks in historical fossil collections from the Pampean region. PeerJ. 5. e3117. 10.7717/peerj.3117. 2167-8359. 5426367. 28503369 . free .
4. http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=41245 Theriodictis
5. Rodrigues, P.H.; Prevosti, J.F.; Ribeiro, A.M.; Ferigolo, J. (2004) Novos materiais de carnívora para o Pleistoceno do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia, v.7, n.1, p.77-86, 2004.
6. Ribeiro, A. M.; & Scherer, C. S. (2009) do Pleistoceno do Rio Grande do Sul. In: Quaternário do Rio Grande do Sul: Integrando conhecimentos. Monografias da Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia. Porto Alegre: Ana Maria Ribeiro, Soraia Girardi Bauermann, Carolina Saldanha Scherer (Org.). Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia, 2009. p. 171-191.
7. Perini, F. A.; Russo C. A. M.; and Schrago C. G. (2010) The evolution of South American endemic canids: a history of rapid diversification and morphological parallelism. J. Evol. Biol. 23, 311–322.
8. F.J. Prevosti; P. Plamqvist, 2001, Ameghiniana 38: 375-384