''Actiocyon'' was an extinct genus of ailurid that existed from the

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), epoch made up of two Stage (stratigraphy), stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0. ...

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 ...

. The type species, ''Actiocyon leardi'', was described in 1947 by the American paleontologist Chester Stock.

Description

The holotype consisted of portions of a snout containing the palate with some teeth. Stock noted overall similarities to their contemporary genus ''

Alopecocyon ''Alopecocyon'' is a fossil genus of ailurid belonging to the subfamily Simocyoninae. It has two species, ''Alopecocyon goeriachensis'' and ''Alopecocyon getti''. It is based on fragmentary fossils dating to the middle Miocene The Miocene ( ...

'' of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, though he tentatively classified ''Actiocyon'' as a

procyonid Procyonidae ( ) is a New World family (biology), family of the order (biology), order Carnivora. It includes the Procyon (genus), raccoons, ringtails, cacomistles, coatis, kinkajous, olingos, and olinguitos. Procyonids inhabit a wide range of e ...

due to the structure of fourth premolar and first molar. Some later authors have suggested ''Actiocyon'' to be a junior synonym of ''Alopecocyon'', though others have maintained the two as separated but related genera due to difference in dental and jaw morphology. A second and earlier species, ''A. parverratis'', was described by Smith et al. (2016) and was the earliest known simocyonine from North America.

References

Prehistoric mammals of North America Prehistoric carnivoran genera Ailuridae Fossil taxa described in 1947 Miocene musteloids {{paleo-carnivora-stub