''Tartarocyon'' 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 ...

Amphicyonidae Amphicyonidae is an extinct family of terrestrial carnivorans belonging to the suborder Caniformia. They first appeared in North America in the middle Eocene (around 45 mya), spread to Europe by the late Eocene (35 mya), and further spread to As ...

, who lived 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 ...

. It was described after fossilized remains found in Sallespisse,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Despite the scarceness of its fossil remains, being only known from the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

mandible, its body mass has been estimated to be close to 200 kilograms, far from its closest relative, ''

Cynelos ''Cynelos'' is a large extinct genus of amphicyonids which inhabited North America, Europe, and Africa from the Early Miocene subepoch to the Late Miocene subepoch 20.4–13.7 Annum, Mya, existing for approximately . Species * ''C. caroniavorus ...

'', and making it one of the largest terrestrial predators of Miocene

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. ''T. cazanavei'' is the only species included in the genus. The genus was named after a southwestern

French Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. F ...

legend of a man eating giant ; the species name honors the owner of the terrain in which the holotype has been discovered.

References

Serravallian Miocene mammals of Europe Miocene Amphicyonidae Fossils of France Neogene France Fossil taxa described in 2022 Monotypic prehistoric carnivoran genera {{paleo-carnivora-stub