Mesocyon

{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivores}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Early Oligocene|Early Miocene}}

| image = Mesocyon.jpeg

| image_caption = Skull

| taxon = Mesocyon

| authority = Scott, 1890

| type_species = †Temnocyon coryphaeus

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

• †M. brachyops Merriam 1906
• †M. coryphaeus Cope 1879
• †M. temnodon Wortman & Matthew 1899

}}

Mesocyon ("middle dog") is an extinct genus of the Hesperocyoninae subfamily of early canids native to North America. It lived from the Oligocene to Early Miocene, 30.3—20.3 Ma, existing for approximately {{Mya|30-20|million years}}.[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=41220 Mesocyon at fossilworks] Fossils are known from Oregon, southern California and the northern Great Plains. It was roughly coyote-sized, and the first known canid to have a primarily meat-based diet.{{cite book |last1= Wang |first1= Xiaoming | last2= Tedford | first2= Richard H. | date= 2008 |title= Dogs, Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History |publisher= Columbia |page= 27 |isbn= 978-0-231-13528-3}}

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