Protocyon is an extinction genus of large Canidae endemic to South America and North America from Chibanian to Late Pleistocene living from 781,000 to 12,000 years ago.
Description
Protocyon was a
hypercarnivore, suggested by its dental adaptations. Like many other large canids, it was most likely a pack hunter. It hunted the medium-sized grazers and browsers, and bite marks on fossils suggest that it may have hunted
Glyptotherium. The find of a molar tooth found in Santa Vitória do Palmar in
Brazil suggests a weight of between for this particular specimen, modest in size compared to other canids including the dire wolf. However, despite its size, isotopic analysis shows a dietary overlap with
Smilodon, which implies it competed with the sabertooth cat for the same prey.
Taxonomy
Protocyon was named by Giebel in 1855 and assigned to Canidae by Carroll in 1988. One taxonomic authority proposes that the species
Theriodictis tarijensis falls under the genus
Protocyon.
A member of the Cerdocyonina lineage, its closest living relative might be the bush dog.
Palaeobiology
The diet of
P. troglodytes included
Notiomastodon,
Megatherium,
Toxodon,
Hippidion, and
Equus neogeus.
In contrast to its contemporary carnivores
S. populator and
Arctotherium, dental stable isotope evidence shows
P. troglodytes in the Brazilian Intertropical Region (BIR) had a preference for open savanna environments.
Fossil distribution
Fossils of
Protocyon have been found in the Ñuapua and
of
Bolivia, the Vorohue Formation of
Buenos Aires,
Argentina, Santa Elena Peninsula of
Ecuador,
Sopas Formation of
Uruguay, Mene de Inciarte Tar Seep of
Venezuela and various sites in
Brazil, among others the Jandaíra Formation.
Canid fossil material from the Hoyo Negro pit in the Sac Actun cave system (Mexico), initially identified as remains of a coyote, was reinterpreted as remains of P. troglodytes by , indicating that this taxon was also present in the southern part of North America.
