Lycopsis

{{Italic title}}{{Short description|Extinct marsupial-like mammal}}

{{Taxobox

| name = Lycopsis

| fossil_range = Mid-Late Miocene (Santacrucian-Chasicoan)
~{{Fossil range|16.3|9.0}}

| image = Lycopsis longirostris AMNH.jpg

| image_caption = Fossil of L. longirostrus

| regnum = Animalia

| phylum = Chordata

| classis = Mammalia

| ordo = †Sparassodonta

| superfamilia = †Borhyaenoidea

| genus = Lycopsis

| genus_authority = Cabrera 1927

| type_species = {{extinct}}Lycopsis torresi

| type_species_authority = Cabrera 1927

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

  • L. longirostrus {{small|Marshall 1976}}
  • L. viverensis {{small|Forasiepi et al. 2003}}

| synonyms = * Anatherium oxyrhynchus {{small|Ameghino 1894}}

}}

Lycopsis is an extinct genus of South American metatherian that lived during the Miocene in Argentina and Colombia.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1671/0272-4634(2004)024[0689:FAOTPS]2.0.CO;2| title = Functional-adaptive analysis of the postcranial skeleton of a Laventan borhyaenoid, Lycopsis longirostris (Marsupialia, Mammalia)| journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology| volume = 24| issue = 3| pages = 689–708| year = 2004| last1 = Argot | first1 = C. }}

History

Although not named until 1927, Florentino Ameghino described a species now seen as synonymous with Lycopsis torresi, Anatherium oxyrhynchus, in 1895 based on a mandibular ramus with several teeth.Marshall, L. G. (1977). A new species of Lycopsis (Borhyaenidae: Marsupialia) from the La Venta fauna (Late Miocene) of Colombia, South America. Journal of Paleontology, 633–642. The fossil was recovered from Puesto Estancia La Costa in Santa Cruz, Argentina, dating to the Miocene. The type material of Lycopsis was collected in July 1895 by "C. Berry" from the middle Miocene strata of the Santa Cruz Formation along the Santa Cruz River in the same area.Cabrera, Á. (1927). Datos para el conocimiento de los dasiuroideos fósiles argentinos. Revista del Museo de la Plata, 30, 271–315. The fossils (MLP 11–113) were fragmentary, constituting only several fragmentary jaw sections from the maxilla and mandible, including several molars.Argot, C. (2004). Functional-adaptive analysis of the postcranial skeleton of a Laventan borhyaenoid, Lycopsis longirostris (Marsupialia, Mammalia). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 24(3), 689–708. However, these fossils were not named until in 1927, Ángel Cabrera named Lycopsis torresi, the generic name meaning "wolf-like aspect" after the anatomy of the mandible and the specific name after Argentine paleontologist and the director of the Museo de la Plata at the time, Luis Maria Torres.

Taxonomy

File:Lycopsis longirostris.JPG

The cladogram after the analysis of Suárez et al., 2015, looks as follows:{{Cite journal |last1 = Suárez |first1 = C.|first2 =A. M. |last2 =Forasiepi |first3 =F. J. |last3 =Goin |first4 =C. |last4 =Jaramillo |title = Insights into the Neotropics prior to the Great American Biotic Interchange: new evidence of mammalian predators from the Miocene of Northern Colombia |journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |pages=e1029581|year = 2015|volume = 36| doi = 10.1080/02724634.2015.1029581|s2cid = 86264178|hdl = 11336/53653 |hdl-access = free }}

{{clade| style=font-size:100%;line-height:80%

|label1=Sparassodonta

|1={{clade

|1=Patene

|2={{clade

|1=Hondadelphys

|2={{clade

|1=Stylocynus

|2={{clade

|label1=Hathliacynidae

|1={{clade

|1=Acyon

|2={{clade

|1=Cladosictis

|2={{clade

|1=Sipalocyon

|2={{clade

|1=Notogale

|2=Sallacyon }} }} }} }}

|label2=Borhyaenoidea

|2={{clade

|label1=Lycopsis

|1={{clade

|1=Lycopsis longirostrus

|2={{clade

|1=Lycopsis viverensis

|2={{clade

|1=Lycopsis torresi

|2=Lycopsis padillai }} }} }}

|2={{clade

|1=Prothylacynus

|2={{clade

|1=Pharsophorus

|2={{clade

|label1=Borhyaenidae

|1={{clade

|1=Borhyaena

|2={{clade

|1=Australohyaena

|2={{clade

|1=Arctodictis sinclairi

|2=Arctodictis munizi }} }} }}

|2={{clade

|1=Callistoe

|2={{clade

|1=Paraborhyaena

|label2=Thylacosmilidae

|2={{clade

|1=Patagosmilus

|2=Thylacosmilus }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }}

Distribution

Fossils of Lycopsis have been found in:[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=284753 Lycopsis] at Fossilworks.org

References