Prototocyon

Prototocyon; Temporal range: Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Canidae
Genus:	†Prototocyon; Pohle, 1928
Type species
	†Prototocyon curvipalatus; Bose, 1880
Species
	P. curvipalatus; P. recki;
Synonyms
	Sivacyon;

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.^[6]

References

^ Wang, Xiaoming; Tedford, Richard H.; Antón, Mauricio. Dogs: their fossil relatives and evolutionary history.
^ Carroll, R. L. (1988). Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company.
^ McKenna, M. C.; Bell, S. K. (1997). Classification of mammals above the species level. New York: Columbia University Press.
^ Gompper, Matthew E.; Vanak, Abi Tamim (9 August 2006). Mammalian Species No. 795, pp. 1–5, 3 figs. Vulpes bengalensis (PDF). American Society of Mammalogists. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-21.
^ 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. 68 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1080/0035919X.2012.748698. ISSN 0035-919X.
^ ^a ^b Werdelin, Lars; Sanders, William Joseph (2010). Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press. p. 612. ISBN 9780520257214.

[1] Wang, Xiaoming; Tedford, Richard H.; Antón, Mauricio. Dogs: their fossil relatives and evolutionary history.

[2] Carroll, R. L. (1988). Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company.

[3] McKenna, M. C.; Bell, S. K. (1997). Classification of mammals above the species level. New York: Columbia University Press.

[4] Gompper, Matthew E.; Vanak, Abi Tamim (9 August 2006). Mammalian Species No. 795, pp. 1–5, 3 figs. Vulpes bengalensis (PDF). American Society of Mammalogists. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-21.

[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. 68 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1080/0035919X.2012.748698. ISSN 0035-919X.

[Werdelin-6] Werdelin, Lars; Sanders, William Joseph (2010). Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press. p. 612. ISBN 9780520257214.

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