''Eucyon'' (Greek: : good, true; : dog) 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 ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of medium

omnivorous 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 ...

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

-like

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 ...

that first appeared in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

during the late Middle

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

10 million years ago. It was the size of a jackal and weighed around 15 kg. It was one of the few North American mammals which invaded

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

about 6 million years ago, followed by the genus going extinct 3 million years ago. This genus is proposed to have given rise to genus ''

Canis ''Canis'' is a genus of the Caninae which includes multiple extant taxon, extant species, such as Wolf, wolves, dogs, coyotes, and golden jackals. Species of this genus are distinguished by their moderate to large size, their massive, well-develo ...

'' 6 million years ago.

Taxonomy

''Eucyon'' was named by Tedford and Qiu in 1996. Phyletically it stood between ''Canis'' and the South American canines that would follow it. In 2009, Tedford revised its diagnosis and described two of its species, ''E. skinneri'' and ''E. davisi'', which was originally named ''Canis davisi'' by Merriam in 1911. Numerous species were previously described as ''Canis'', including '' Eucyon ferox''.

''Eucyon davisi''

The jackal-sized ''Eucyon'' existed in North America from 10 million YBP until 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 ...

Wang Wang may refer to: Names * Wang (surname) Wang () is the pinyin romanization of Chinese, romanization of the common Chinese surname (''Wáng''). It has a mixture of various origin with uncertain lineage of family history, however it is c ...

and Tedford proposed that the genus ''Canis'' was the descendant of the coyote-like ''Eucyon davisi'', remains of which first appeared in the

(6 million YBP) in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico. By the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Canis lepophagus'' appeared in the same region and by the

Early Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial epoch (geology), sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, representing the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently esti ...

(1 million YBP) ''Canis latrans'' (the

) was in existence. They proposed that the progression from ''Eucyon davisi'' to ''C. lepophagus'' to the coyote was linear evolution.

''Eucyon khoikhoi''

The recent discovery of the 5 million years old ''E. khoikhoi'' supports the proposed radiation of the genus ''Eucyon'', with the oldest '' E. ferox'' in North America, to '' E. davisi'' in North America then to China, to ''E. debonisi'' in Western Europe, to ''E. khoikhoi'' in Africa.

Description

A medium canid - it is the size of a jackal, weighing around .

Fossil distribution

The fossil remains are found in the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

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 ...

and Washington's Ringold Formation, as well as northern

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, along with

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

and many other locations across the Old World.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1791493 Canina (subtribe) Prehistoric canines Miocene canids Miocene mammals of North America Prehistoric carnivoran genera Fossil taxa described in 1996 Taxa named by Richard H. Tedford Ringold Formation Miocene Fauna