Tapocyon

Tapocyon; Temporal range: middle Eocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivoramorpha
Family:	†Miacidae
Genus:	†Tapocyon; Stock, 1934
Type species
	†Tapocyon occidentalis;
Species
	†Tapocyon dawsonae; †Tapocyon robustus;

Tapocyon^[1] is an extinct genus of Miacidae, a family of primitive carnivores. Tapocyon was first discovered in Ventura County, when part of a jaw was found in the 1930s.^[2] A representative fossil of Tapocyon robustus was found in Oceanside, California.^[2] The animal was about the size of a coyote^[2] and is believed to have been a good climber that spent a lot of time in trees.^[2]

Sources

^ Wesley, G. D. & Flynn, J. J., 2003: A revision of Tapocyon (Carnivoramorpha), including analysis of the first cranial specimens and identification of a new species. –Journal of Paleontology: Vol. 77, #4, pp. 769-783
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d www.sdnhm.org Retrieved on May 14th, 2008.

Gittleman, J. A., ed. 1996. Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution. Ithaca, NY: Comstock Publishing.
Halls, Kelly M. 2005. Wild Dogs: Past & Present. Plain City, OH: Darby Creek Publishing.
Academy of Sciences, National (U.S.) Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
The Terrestrial Eocene-Oligocene Transition in North America by Donald R. Prothero and Robert J. Emry; 1996 ISBN 0-521-43387-8

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[1] Wesley, G. D. & Flynn, J. J., 2003: A revision of Tapocyon (Carnivoramorpha), including analysis of the first cranial specimens and identification of a new species. –Journal of Paleontology: Vol. 77, #4, pp. 769-783

[Sniddem-2] www.sdnhm.org Retrieved on May 14th, 2008.

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[2]

Sources

Further reading