Alopecocyon
{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivores}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = mid-Miocene
| taxon = Alopecocyon
| authority = Camp & Vanderhoof, 1940
| type_species = †Alopecocyon goeriachensis
| type_species_authority = (Toula, 1884)
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
†A. goeriachensis (Toula, 1884)
†A. getti Mein, 1958
| synonyms =
- Ichneugale {{small|Jourdan, 1862 (nomen oblitum)}}
- Viretius {{small|Kretzoi, 1947}}
- Meiniogale {{small|Ginsburg, 2002}}
}}
Alopecocyon is a fossil genus of ailurid belonging to the subfamily Simocyoninae. It has two species, Alopecocyon goeriachensis and Alopecocyon getti. It is based on fragmentary fossils dating to the middle Miocene of both Europe and Asia.{{Cite book|doi=10.1016/B978-1-4377-7813-7.00003-3 |chapter=Evolution of the Family Ailuridae |title=Red Panda |year=2011 |last1=Salesa |first1=Manuel J. |last2=Peigné |first2=Stéphane |last3=Antón |first3=Mauricio |last4=Morales |first4=Jorge |pages=27–41 |isbn=9781437778137 }}
Taxonomy and evolution
The species A. goerichiachensis was first described (but in a different genus) in 1884.{{cite journal |last=Toula |first=F. |date=1884 |title=Ueber einige Sa ̈ugethierreste von Göriach bei Turnau (Bruck A.M.), Nord Steiermark |trans-title= |url= |language= |journal=Jahrbuch der kaiserlich-königlichen geologischen Reichsanstalt |volume=34 |issue= |pages=385–401 |doi= |access-date=}} The genus was first named in 1940.{{cite journal |last1=Camp |first1=C.L. |last2=Vanderhoof |first2=V.L. |date=1940 |title=Bibliography of fossil vertebrates 1928–1933 |url= |journal=Geological Society of America Special Papers |volume=27 |issue= |pages=1–503 |doi= 10.1130/SPE27-p1|access-date=}} A second species A. getti was described in 1958.{{cite journal |last=Mein |first=P. |date=1958 |title=Les mammifères de la faune sidérolitique de Vieux-Collonges |trans-title= |url= |language=French |journal=Nouvelles Archives du Muséum d'Histoire naturelle de Lyon |volume=5 |issue= |pages=3–122 |doi= 10.3406/mhnly.1958.987|s2cid=155530802 |access-date=}}
The species A. getti was proposed to be moved to a new genus Meiniogale in 2002, but this was rejected.{{Cite book|chapter=Molecular and morphological evidence for Ailuridae and a review of its genera |title=Carnivoran Evolution |year=2010 |last1=Morlo |first1=Michael |last2=Peigné |first2=Stéphane |pages=121–123 |doi=10.1017/CBO9781139193436.005 |isbn=9780521515290 }}
Characteristics
Alopecocyon differed from the earlier Amphictis in that it had relatively larger second molars compared to the first molars.
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{cite journal |last=Beaumont |first=G. de |date=1964 |title=Essai sur la position taxonomique des genres Alopecocyon Viret et Simocyon Wagner (Carnivora) |trans-title= |url= |language= |journal=Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae |volume=57 |issue= |pages=829–836 |doi= |access-date=}}
{{Musteloidea|Mea.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q18578655|from2=Q119361623|from3=Q119361639}}
Category:Prehistoric mammals of Europe
Category:Prehistoric carnivoran genera
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1940
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