Subparictidae is an extinct family of early

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of ...

arctoid

carnivora Carnivora is a monophyletic order of placental mammals consisting of the most recent common ancestor of all cat-like and dog-like animals, and all descendants of that ancestor. Members of this group are formally referred to as carnivorans, ...

ns endemic to North America that closely related to

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the N ...

s. They were small,

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight o ...

-like mammals that lived from the

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'', " ...

to the early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first 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 means "less recent" ...

. This family includes a handful of genera such as '' Subparictis'', ''

Parictis ''Parictis'' is an extinct arctoid, possibly the earliest genus of bears known, though a recent variety of morphological evidence links amphicynodontines with pinnipeds. It was a very small and graceful arctoid with a skull only 7 cm long. ...

'', ''

Nothocyon ''Nothocyon'' ("spurious dog") is an extinct genus of carnivoran in the family Subparictidae which inhabited North America during the late Oligocene. At one time, many species of the dog family Canidae were placed in ''Nothocyon'', but new foss ...

'', and '' Eoarctos''.

Characteristics

Unlike other early caniforms, subparictids had simple molars and surrounding or at least partial cingulums.

Systematics

Subparictidae was originally described in 1996 to contain the genera ''Subparictis'', ''Nothocyon'', and ''Parictis''. At the time, it was suggested to be a sister-family to

Ursidae Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

. Other authors have placed ''Parictis'' and ''Subparictis'' in the

Amphicynodontidae Amphicynodontidae is a probable clade of extinct arctoids. While some researchers consider this group to be an extinct subfamily of bears, a variety of morphological evidence links amphicynodontines with pinnipeds, as the group were semi-aquati ...

. A fourth genus, ''Eoarctos'', was described in 2023 and the paper supports a sister grouping of subparictids and ursids. Below is the phylogeny recovered by Wang et al. (2023):

Paleobiology

The subparictids were endemic to North America. Fossils have been found dating from the

Chadronian The Chadronian age within the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology is the North American faunal stage typically set from 38,000,000 to 33,900,000 years BP, a period of . It is usually considered to fall within the Eocene epoch. The Chadroni ...

through

Whitneyan The Whitneyan 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 33,300,000 to 30,800,000 years BP, a period of . It is usuall ...

ages of the northern Great Plains of the United States and southern Canada and the

Arikareean The Arikareean 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 30,600,000 to 20,800,000 years BP, a period of . It is usual ...

of Oregon. Early members competed with the earliest

canid Canidae (; from Latin, '' canis'', " dog") is a biological family of dog-like carnivorans, colloquially referred to as dogs, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid (). There are three subfamilies found withi ...

s, and are often found on the periphery in sites where with canid fossils. Over time, the genera ''Eoarctos'' and ''Nothocyon'' evolved increasingly robust teeth adapted for

durophagy Durophagy is the eating behavior of animals that consume hard-shelled or exoskeleton bearing organisms, such as corals, shelled mollusks, or crabs. It is mostly used to describe fish, but is also used when describing reptiles, including fossil t ...

. Based on the complete anatomical remains of ''Eoarctos'', the subparictids would have occupied an ecological niche similar to

procyonid Procyonidae is a New World family of the order Carnivora. It comprises the raccoons, ringtails, cacomistles, coatis, kinkajous, olingos, and olinguitos. Procyonids inhabit a wide range of environments and are generally omnivorous. Character ...

s and

wolverines The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q119015399 Prehistoric mammal families Subparictidae Prehistoric carnivorans of North America Ursoidea