Sinopidae ("swift

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

es") is a family of extinct predatory mammals from extinct order

Hyaenodonta Hyaenodonta ("hyena teeth") is an extinct order of hypercarnivorous placental pan-carnivoran mammals from mirorder Ferae. Hyaenodonts were important mammalian predators that arose during the early Paleocene in Europe and persisted well into ...

. Fossil remains of these mammals are known from early to middle

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

deposits in North America, Europe and Asia.

Classification and phylogeny

Taxonomy

* Family: †Sinopidae ** Genus: †'' Acarictis'' *** †''Acarictis ryani'' ** (unranked): †''Sinopa'' clade *** Genus: †'' Prototomus'' ^{(paraphyletic

In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...
genus)} **** †''Prototomus deimos'' **** †''Prototomus girardoti'' **** †''Prototomus martis'' **** †''Prototomus minimus'' **** †''Prototomus phobos'' **** †''Prototomus robustus'' **** †''Prototomus secundarius'' **** †''Prototomus viverrinus'' *** Genus: †''

Sinopa ''Sinopa'' ("swift fox") is a genus of hyaenodontid mammal from family Sinopidae, that lived in North America and Asia during the early to middle Eocene. Description ''Sinopa'' was a small genus of hyaenodontid mammals. Its carnassial teeth w ...

'' **** †''Sinopa jilinia'' **** †''Sinopa lania'' **** †''Sinopa longipes'' **** †''Sinopa major'' **** †''Sinopa minor'' **** †''Sinopa piercei'' **** †''Sinopa pungens'' **** †''Sinopa rapax'' **** †''Sinopa'' sp. A 'AMNH FM 11538'' *** ''

Incertae sedis ' () or ''problematica'' is a term used for a taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertain ...

'': **** † Sinopidae sp. 'FMNH PM 59529''

Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships of family Sinopidae are shown in the following cladogram:G. F. Gunnell (1998.) "Creodonta". In C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs (eds.)
"Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America, Volume 1: Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulate like Mammals"
Cambridge University Press, 703 pages

References

{{Hyaenodonta Hyaenodonts Paleogene mammals of North America Paleogene mammals of Asia Paleogene mammals of Europe Prehistoric mammal families