| Metatomarctus Temporal range:
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|---|---|
| |
| Fossil skull cast, Florida Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Placentalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Subfamily: | †Borophaginae |
| Tribe: | †Borophagini |
| Genus: | †Metatomarctus Wang et al., 1999 |
| Species: | †M. canavus
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Metatomarctus canavus (Simpson, 1932)
| |
Metatomarctus is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. It lived during the Early to Middle Miocene, 23–16 Mya, existing for approximately 7 million years1 It was an intermediate-size canid, and more predaceous than earlier borophagines.2
It hunted in packs, like modern canines, and may have preyed upon creatures such as Equus, rodents, and other smaller prey.
Fossil distribution
- Thomas Farm Site, Gilchrist County, Florida, estimated age ~23.3—16.3 Mya.3
- Pollack Farm Site, Kent County, Delaware.
- Hackberry Wash, San Bernardino County, California.
- Rattlesnake Hills, Fremont County, Wyoming.
- High Rock Canyon a.k.a. UCMP V-110, Humboldt County, Nevada.
- Ahren's Prospect, Elder Ridge, and Pebble Creek, Runningwater Formation, Dawes County, Nebraska.4
- Other fossil locations: Maryland, Wyoming, New Mexico, western Nebraska.1
References
References
- Matatomarctus, fossilworks
- Wang, Xiaoming; Tedford, Richard H. (2008). Dogs, Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History. Columbia. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-231-13528-3.
- www.flmnh.ufl.edu Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
- Dawes County Collection, Paleobiology