Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Synapsida
Cladus: Eupelycosauria
Cladus: Sphenacodontia
Cladus: Sphenacodontoidea
Cladus: Therapsida
Cladus: Theriodontia
Cladus: Cynodontia
Cladus: Eucynodontia
Cladus: Probainognathia
Cladus: Prozostrodontia
Cladus: Mammaliaformes
Classis: Mammalia
Subclassis: Trechnotheria
Infraclassis: Zatheria
Supercohors: Theria
Cohors: Eutheria
Infraclassis: Placentalia
Cladus: Boreoeutheria
Superordo: Laurasiatheria
Cladus: Scrotifera
Cladus: Ferungulata
Cladus: Ferae
Cladus: Pancarnivora
Cladus: Carnivoramorpha
Cladus: Carnivoraformes
Ordo: Carnivora
Subordo: Caniformia
Familia: Canidae
Subfamilia: Caninae
Genus: †Leptocyon
Species: †L. delicatus – †L. douglassi – †L. gregorii – †L. leidyi – †L. matthewi – †L. mollis – †L. tejonensis – †L. vafer – †L. vulpinus
[species after Tedford, Wang & Taylor (2009: 14)]
Name
†Leptocyon Matthew, 1918
Synonyms
†Neocynodesmus Macdonald, 1963
Type species
Neocynodesmus Macdonald: Pachycynodon delicatus Loomis, 1932, by original designation
References
cited sources
Macdonald, J.R. 1963: The Miocene faunas from the Wounded Knee area of western South Dakota. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, (125)
Tedford, R.H.; Wang, X.; Taylor, B.E. 2009: Phylogenetic systematics of the North American fossil Caninae (Carnivora: Canidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, (325) DOI: 10.1206/574.1
Links
ION search for Leptocyon
ION search for Neocynodesmus
Nomenclator Zoologicus search for Leptocyon 05:52, 11 March 2010 (UTC)]
Nomenclator Zoologicus search for Neocynodesmus 05:52, 11 March 2010 (UTC)]
The genus Leptocyon (Greek: leptos slender + cyon dog) includes 11 species and was the first canine. They were small and weighed around 2 kilograms (4.4 lb). They first appeared in North America around 34 million years ago in the Oligocene, at the same time as the Borophaginae, with whom they share features, indicating that these were two sister groups. Borophaginae skull and dentition were designed for a powerful killing bite compared with the Leptocyon which were designed for snatching small, fast-moving prey. The species L. delicatus is the smallest canid to have existed. At the close of their genus 9 million years ago one Leptocyon lineage resembled the modern fox.[1]
L. vafer skull cast (bottom) of a specimen from California, compared to a red fox skull (top). At the AMNH.
Leptocyon were small-bodied, fox-like animals with a long, narrow jaw and delicate teeth. They were probably omnivorous, feeding on small animals and fruit in a diet that remained relatively unchanged during the Miocene.[2]
References
Wang & Tedford 2008, p. 53.
Wang & Tedford 2008, p. 51.
Bibliography
Wang, Xiaoming; Tedford, Richard H. (2008). Dogs:Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History. Columbia University Press, New York. ISBN 978-0-231-13529-0.
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