Borophagini is a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

or tribe of the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Borophaginae The extinct Borophaginae form one of three subfamilies found within the canid family. The other two canid subfamilies are the extinct Hesperocyoninae and extant Caninae. Borophaginae, called "bone-crushing dogs", were endemic to North America d ...

. This is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

group of terrestrial

canid Canidae (; from Latin, ''canis'', "dog") is a family (biology), biological family of caniform carnivorans, constituting a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid (). The family includes three subfamily, subfamilies: the Caninae, a ...

s that were endemic and widespread throughout

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

which lived during the Geringian stage of the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

epoch to the

Zanclean The Zanclean is the lowest stage or earliest age on the geologic time scale of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 5.332 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago) and 3.6 ± 0.005 Ma. It is preceded by the Messinian Age of the Miocene Epoch, and f ...

age of the

Early Pliocene Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...

living 30.8—3.6 Mya existing approximately .

Biology

Borophagini were short-faced, heavy-jawed canids, usually massive in size. They were primarily

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they ar ...

s but

dentition Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiology ...

demonstrates

omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize t ...

traits.

Taxonomy

''Borophagini'' was named by Simpson (1945) redited to Simpson because he named Borophaginae It was assigned to Borophaginae by Wang et al. (1999) and Wang et al. (2004).

Subtaxa and sister taxa

The subtaxa or subtribes are: '' Aelurodontina'', '' Borophagina'', and '' Cynarctina''. '' Phlaocyonini'' is a sister taxon.

Genera

* Tribe †Borophagini (30—3 Ma) ** †'' Cormocyon'' (30—20 Ma) ** †'' Desmocyon'' (25—16 Ma) ** †'' Metatomarctus'' (19—16 Ma) ** †'' Euoplocyon'' (18—16 Ma) ** †''

Psalidocyon ''Psalidocyon'' is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. It lived during the Early to Middle Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends ...

'' (16—13 Ma) ** †'' Microtomarctus'' (21—13 Ma) ** †'' Protomarctus'' (20—16 Ma) ** †'' Tephrocyon'' (16—14 Ma) ** Subtribe † Cynarctina (20—10 Ma) *** †'' Paracynarctus'' (19—16 Ma) *** †'' Cynarctus'' (16—12 Ma) ** Subtribe † Aelurodontina (20—5 Ma) *** †'' Tomarctus'' (23—16 Ma) *** †'' Aelurodon'' (16—12 Ma) ** Subtribe † Borophagina *** †'' Paratomarctus'' (16—5 Ma) *** †'' Carpocyon'' (16—5 Ma) *** †'' Protepicyon'' (16—12 Ma) *** †'' Epicyon'' (12—10 Ma) *** †'' Borophagus'' (='' Osteoborus'') (12—5 Ma)

Fossil distribution

With the clade comprising many genus and subtaxa, the distribution of

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

specimens for ''Borophagini'' is widespread throughout the entire continent extending from coast to coast as well as

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

to western

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Resources

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4946288 Zanclean extinctions Mammal tribes