Protocyon
{{not to be confused with|Prototocyon|Procyon (genus){{!}}Procyon}}
{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivores}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Middle to Late Pleistocene {{Break}}~{{Fossil range|0.781|0.012}}
| image =
| image_caption = Artist reconstruction of a pack of Protocyon hunting a large ground sloth Glossotherium
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Protocyon
| authority = {{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1855}}|event=Giebel}}
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = {{Bulleted list
| {{extinct}}P. orocualensis {{Small|{{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|2022}}|event=Ruiz-Ramoni, Wang & Rincón}}}}
| {{extinct}}P. orcesi {{Small|{{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1952}}|event=Hoffstetter}}}}
| {{extinct}}P. troglodytes {{Small|{{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1838}}|event=Lund, type}}}}
}}
| synonyms = {{extinct}}Theriodictis tarijense {{Small|{{Timeline-event|date={{Start date|1902}}|event=Ameghino}}}}
}}
Protocyon is an extinct genus of large canid endemic to South and North America from Middle to Late Pleistocene living from 781 to 12{{Nbsp}}thousand years ago.{{R|"Fossilworks Protocyon"}}
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.{{R|"Araújo-Júnior Barbosa Silva 2017"}} The find of a molar tooth found in Santa Vitória do Palmar in Brazil suggests a weight of between {{Convert|25|and|37|kg|abbr=off}} for this particular specimen.{{R|"Oliveira Prevosti Pereira 2005"|p=219}} , modest in size compared to other canids including the dire wolf. However, despite its size, isotopic analysis shows a dietary overlap with Smilodon populator, which implies it competed with the sabertooth cat for the same prey.{{cite journal |last1=Bocherens |first1=Hervé |last2=Cotte |first2=Martin |last3=Bonini |first3=Ricardo |last4=Scian |first4=Daniel |last5=Straccia |first5=Pablo |last6=Soibelzon |first6=Leopoldo |last7=Prevosti |first7=Francisco J. |title=Paleobiology of sabretooth cat Smilodon populator in the Pampean Region (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) around the Last Glacial Maximum: Insights from carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in bone collagen |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |date=1 May 2016 |volume=449 |pages=463–474 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.02.017 |bibcode=2016PPP...449..463B |hdl=11336/43965 |hdl-access=free }}
Taxonomy
Protocyon was named by Giebel in 1855 and assigned to Canidae by Carroll in 1988.{{R|"Carroll 1988"|p=634}} One taxonomic authority proposes that the species Theriodictis tarijensis falls under the genus Protocyon.{{Cite journal|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1096-0031.2009.00298.x|title=Phylogeny of the large extinct South American Canids (Mammalia, Carnivora, Canidae) using a “total evidence” approach|last1=Prevosti|first1=Francisco J.|last2=Forasiepi|first2=Analía M.|year=2010|journal=Cladistics}}
A member of the Cerdocyonina lineage, its closest living relative might be the bush dog.
Palaeobiology
The diet of P. troglodytes included Notiomastodon platensis, Megatherium americanum, Toxodon platensis, Hippidion principale, and Equus neogeus.{{Cite journal |last=Prevosti |first=Francisco J. |last2=Schubert |first2=Blaine W. |date=14 August 2013 |title=First taxon date and stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) for the large hypercarnivorous South American canid Protocyon troglodytes (Canidae, Carnivora) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1040618212004776 |journal=Quaternary International |language=en |volume=305 |pages=67–73 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2012.07.003 |access-date=10 April 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|hdl=11336/9341 |hdl-access=free }} In contrast to its contemporary carnivores S. populator and Arctotherium wingei, dental stable isotope evidence shows P. troglodytes in the Brazilian Intertropical Region (BIR) had a preference for open savanna environments.{{Cite journal |last1=Dantas |first1=Mário André Trindade |last2=Bernardes |first2=Camila |last3=Asevedo |first3=Lidiane |last4=Rabito Pansani |first4=Thaís |last5=De Melo França |first5=Lucas |last6=Santos De Aragão |first6=Wilcilene |last7=Da Silva Santos |first7=Franciely |last8=Cravo |first8=Elisa |last9=Ximenes |first9=Celso |date=4 March 2022 |title=Isotopic palaeoecology ( δ 13 C) of three faunivores from Late Pleistocene of the Brazilian intertropical region |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2021.1933468 |journal=Historical Biology |language=en |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=507–514 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2021.1933468 |bibcode=2022HBio...34..507D |issn=0891-2963 |access-date=2 May 2024 |via=Taylor and Francis Online|url-access=subscription }}
Fossil distribution
Fossils of Protocyon have been found in the Ñuapua and Tarija Formations 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.{{R|"Fossilworks Protocyon"}}
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 {{Harvtxt|Schubert|Chatters|Arroyo-Cabrales|Samuels|2019}}, indicating that this taxon was also present in the southern part of North America.{{R|"Schubert 2019"|p=2}}
References
{{Reflist|refs=
{{Refn|name="Carroll 1988"|
{{Cite book|last1=Carroll |first1=Robert Lynn |author1-link=Robert L. Carroll |year=1988 |title=Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution |publisher=W. H. Freeman and Company |location=New York |language=en |isbn=978-0716718222 |oclc=453330574 |url=https://archive.org/details/vertebratepaleon0000carr/page/n7 |url-access=registration |access-date=26 March 2021}}}}
{{Refn|name="Araújo-Júnior Barbosa Silva 2017"|
{{Cite journal|last1=Araújo-Júnior |first1=Hermínio Ismael de |last2=Barbosa |first2=Fernando Henrique de Souza |last3=Silva |first3=Lucas Henrique Medeiros da |date=February 2017 |title=Overlapping paleoichnology, paleoecology and taphonomy: Analysis of tooth traces in a Late Pleistocene-early Holocene megafaunal assemblage of Brazil and description of a new ichnotaxon in hard substrate |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |publisher=Elsevier |location=Rio de Janeiro |language=en |volume=468 |pages=122{{Ndash}}128 |issn=0031-0182 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.12.007|bibcode=2017PPP...468..122A }}}}
{{Refn|name="Oliveira Prevosti Pereira 2005"|
{{cite journal|last1=Oliveira |first1=Édison V. |last2=Prevosti |first2=Francisco J. |last3=Pereira |first3=Jamil C. |date=December 2005 |title=Protocyon Troglodytes (Lund) (Mammalia, Carnivora) in the late Pleistocene of Rio Grande Do Sul and their Paleoecological Significance |journal=Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia |publisher=Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=215{{Ndash}}220 |location=Brazil |language=en |issn=1519-7530 |url=https://www.sbpbrasil.org/revista/edicoes/8_3/oliveiraetal.pdf |access-date=26 March 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213123632/http://www.sbpbrasil.org/revista/edicoes/8_3/oliveiraetal.pdf |archive-date=13 February 2019}}}}
{{Refn|name="Schubert 2019"|
{{cite journal|last1=Schubert |first1=Blaine W. |last2=Chatters |first2=James C. |author2-link=James Chatters |last3=Arroyo-Cabrales |first3=Joaquin |last4=Samuels |first4=Joshua X. |last5=Soibelzon |first5=Leopoldo H. |last6=Prevosti |first6=Francisco J. |last7=Widga |first7=Christopher |last8=Nava |first8=Alberto |last9=Rissolo |first9=Dominique |last10=Erreguerena |first10=Pilar Luna |display-authors=1 |year=2019 |title=Yucatán carnivorans shed light on the Great American Biotic Interchange |journal=Biology Letters |publisher=Royal Society |volume=15 |issue=5 |pages=1{{Ndash}}6 |location=London |language=en |id=20190148 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2019.0148 |pmid=31039726 |doi-access=free |pmc=6548739}}}}
{{Refn|name="Fossilworks Protocyon"|
{{Cite web|editor1-last=Alroy |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Alroy |year=2021 |title=Protocyon Giebel 1855 (canid) |website=Fossilworks |publisher=Macquarie University |location=Sydney |language=en |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=41238 |access-date=17 December 2021 }}}}
}}
{{Canidae extinct nav|C.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q142407}}
Category:Prehistoric carnivoran genera
Category:Pleistocene carnivorans
Category:Pleistocene mammals of South America
Category:Pleistocene mammals of North America
Category:Pleistocene Argentina