''Canis nehringi'' 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 ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 ...

. ''Canis gezi'', a poorly known small wolf from the Ensenadan age of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, appears to have given rise to ''Canis nehringi'', a Lujanian age species from

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. The species was first described by

Florentino Ameghino Florentino Ameghino (born Giovanni Battista Fiorino Giuseppe Ameghino; September 19, 1853 – August 6, 1911) was an Argentine naturalist, paleontologist, anthropologist and zoologist, whose fossil discoveries on the Argentine Pampas, especial ...

in 1902.Prevosti et al., 2004, p.32

''Canis gezi''

''Canis dirus'' made its appearance in South America in the late Pleistocene, and seems to have been restricted to the north and west coasts. Its remains have not been found in the area of Argentina that produced ''Canis gezi'' and ''Canis nehringi'', and their remains have not been found elsewhere in South America. Some researchers have proposed that ''Canis dirus'' may have originated in South America. In 1988, a study of these two large South American wolves described them with ''Canis gezi'' found in South American Ensenadan deposits that relate to the North American late

Blancan The Blancan North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 4,750,000 to 1,806,000 years BP, a period of .Irvingtonian The Irvingtonian North American Land Mammal Age on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), spanning from 1.8 million – 250,000 years Before Present, BP.

, and ''Canis nehringi'' found in South American

Lujanian The Lujanian age is a South American land mammal age within the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs of the Neogene, from 0.8–0.011 Mya (unit), Ma or 800–11 tya (unit), tya. It follows the Ensenadan. The age is usually divided into the middle Pleist ...

deposits of the Lujan Formation that relate to the Late Pleistocene. Given their similarities and timeframes, it was proposed that ''Canis gezi'' was the ancestor of ''Canis nehringi''. The study indicated that ''Canis gezi'' was most similar to the late Irvingtonian ''Aenocyon dirus nebrascensis'' (proposed early Dire wolf) and was its sister taxa, but ''Canis nehringi'' had a closer relationship to Rancholabrean ''Canis dirus''. The study found that ''Canis dirus'' was the most derived genus ''Canis'' species in the New World, and compared to ''Canis nehringi'' was larger in size and construction of its lower molars that were increased for more efficient predation.Berta, A. 1988. Quaternary evolution and biogeography of the large South American Canidae (Mammalia: Carnivora). University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 132:1–49. In 2009, Tedford proposed that because there was now seen a link between ''Canis armbrusteri'' and the Rancholabrean ''Canis dirus'', that a case could be argued for a collateral South American lineage linking ''Canis gezi'' with ''Canis nehringi''. These two clades share dental and cranial similarities developed for hypercarnivory, suggesting a common ancestor for both clades. In 2010, a study found that DNA analysis and the dental characteristics of South America hypercanivorous canids showed a "South American clade" and the ''Canis'' clade. ''Canis gezi'' was a member of the "South American clade" of carnivores, but ''Canis dirus'' and ''Canis nehringi'' were included as derived species in the ''Canis'' clade. ''Canis dirus'' was the sister taxon of ''Canis lupus'', but the scientific scoring used in this study for ''Canis nehringi'' was identical to those observed in ''Canis dirus'', which supports the proposal that both could have been the same species. In 2018, a study found that ''Canis gezi'' did not fall under genus ''Canis'' and should be classified under the subtribe Cerdocyonina, however no genus was proposed.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5032445 Extinct wolves Prehistoric canines Pleistocene carnivorans Pleistocene mammals of South America Lujanian Pleistocene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Fossil taxa described in 1902 Taxa named by Florentino Ameghino