Cynodictis

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Cynodictis Natural History Museum Vienna.png

| image_caption = Cynodictis teeth and jaw fragments

| name = Cynodictis

| fossil_range = Late Eocene-Early Oligocene
~{{Fossil range|37|29}}

| taxon = Cynodictis

| authority = Bravard and Pomel, 1850

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = * C. cayluxens

C. crassus
C. elegans
C. exilis
C. ferox
C. lacustris
C. longirostris
C. parisiensis
C. peignei

}}

Cynodictis ("slender dog marten") is an extinct amphicyonid carnivoran which inhabited Eurasia from the Late Eocene subepoch to the Early Oligocene subepoch living from 37.2 to 28.4 million years ago, existing for approximately {{Mya|37.2-28.4|million years}}.[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=41276 Paleobiology Database: Cynodictis, age range and collections]Egi, Naoko, Takehisa Tsubamoto, and Khishigjav Tsogtbaatar. "New amphicyonid (Mammalia: Carnivora) from the Upper Eocene Ergilin Dzo Formation, Mongolia." Paleontological research 13.3 (2009): 245-249.("...It is similar to Cynodictis, which is a primitive amphicyonid from the late Eocene to early Oligocene of Europe...")

Anatomy

Cynodictis had a long muzzle and a low-slung body. It had carnassial teeth for slicing chunks of meat off carcasses. It was about 30 cm at the shoulder. The species C. lacustris was a fox-like animal that weighed approximately 10 kg.{{Cite journal |last1=Le Verger |first1=Kévin |last2=Letenneur |first2=Charlène |last3=Fischer |first3=Valentin |last4=Sánchez-Villagra |first4=Marcelo R. |last5=Ladevèze |first5=Sandrine |last6=Solé |first6=Floréal |date=19 March 2025 |title=Cranial osteology of Cynodictis (Amphicyonidae), the oldest European carnivoran |journal=Swiss Journal of Palaeontology |language=en |volume=144 |issue=1 |doi=10.1186/s13358-025-00350-z |doi-access=free |issn=1664-2376 }}

Fossil distribution

Fossil specimens have been found in the Lushi Formation of Mengjiapo, China, in Weisserburg, Germany and Les Saleres in the Ager Basin of Spain, the Bembridge Limestone and Bembridge Marls Formations of the Isle of Wight, Great Britain as well as the Perrière and Quercy Phosphorites Formations and La Débruge in France.

Cynodictis

Anatomy

Fossil distribution

References

Further reading