''Sunkahetanka'' is an extinct

monospecific In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

genus of the

Hesperocyoninae The extinct Hesperocyoninae are one of three subfamilies found within the canid family. The other two canid subfamilies are the extinct Borophaginae and extant Caninae. Taxonomic history Hesperocyoninae are basal canids that gave rise to the ...

subfamily of early

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 ...

s native to

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 ...

. It lived during the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

, 30.8—26.3 Ma, existing for approximately .
''Sunkahetanka'' In form, it was intermediate between the small '' Cynodesmus'' and the later '' Enhydrocyon'', the first hypercarnivorous, "bone-cracking", canid.

References

*Wang, X. 1994
Phylogenetic systematics of the Hesperocyoninae (Carnivora, Canidae)
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 221:1-207. Hesperocyonines Oligocene canids Oligocene mammals of North America Monotypic prehistoric carnivoran genera Chattian genus extinctions Rupelian genus first appearances {{canid-stub