Tapocyon

{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivores}}

{{Italic title}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|fossil_range = {{fossil_range|46.2|39.7}} middle Eocene

|image = Tapocyon_robustus.jpg

|image_caption = Life restoration of Tapocyon robustus

|image2 = Tapocyon robustus LACM.jpg

|image2_caption = Replica of T. robustus lower jaw at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

|display_parents = 3

|taxon = Tapocyon

|authority = Stock, 1934{{cite journal | doi=10.1073/pnas.20.7.423 | title=New Creodonta from the Sespe Upper Eocene, California | year=1934 | last1=Stock | first1=Chester | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume=20 | issue=7 | pages=423–427 | pmid=16577609 | pmc=1076436 | bibcode=1934PNAS...20..423S | doi-access=free }}

|type_species = †Tapocyon robustus

|type_species_authority = Peterson, 1919

|subdivision_ranks = Species

|subdivision =

• †T. dawsonae {{small|(Wesley & Flynn, 2003)}}{{cite journal |last1=Wesley |first1=G. D. |last2=Flynn |first2=J. J. |title=A revision of Tapocyon (Carnivoramorpha), including analysis of the first cranial specimens and identification of a new species. |journal=Journal of Paleontology |year=2003 |volume=77 |issue=4 |doi=10.1666/0022-3360(2003)077<0769:AROTCI>2.0.CO;2 |jstor=4094822 |pages=769–783|bibcode=2003JPal...77..769W |s2cid=85962560 }}
• †T. robustus {{small|(Peterson, 1919)}}O. A. Peterson (1919.) [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/9480800#page/122/mode/1up "Report Upon the Material Discovered in the Upper Eocene of the Uinta Basin by Earl Douglas in the Years 1908-1909, and by O. A. Peterson in 1912."] Annals of Carnegie Museum 12(2):40-168

|synonyms =

{{collapsible list |bullets=true |title=synonyms of species:

|{{collapsible list |bullets=true |title=T. robustus:

|Miacis robustus {{small|(Gazin, 1956)}}Gazin, C. L. (1956.) [https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/22927/SMC_131_Gazin_1956_8_1-35.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y "The Geology and Vertebrate Paleontology of Upper Eocene Strata in the Northeastern Part of the Wind River Basin, Wyoming, Pt. 2, The Mammalian Fauna of the Badwater Area."] Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 131(8):16–35.

|Prodaphaenus robustus {{small|(Peterson, 1919)}}

|Tapocyon occidentalis {{small|(Stock, 1934)}}

|Uintacyon robustus

}} }}

}}

Tapocyon ("dog from Tapo Canyon") is an extinct genus of placental mammals from clade Carnivoraformes, that lived in North America during the middle Eocene.{{cite book |last1=McKenna |first1=Malcolm C. |last2=Bell |first2=Susan K. |title=Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OLYifwU8bqQC&pg=PP9 |year=1997 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-231-11012-9}}J. J. Flynn (1998.) "Early Cenozoic Carnivora ("Miacoidea")." In C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs (eds.) [https://books.google.com/books?id=I-RgojcDyWYC "Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. Volume 1: Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, and Ungulatelike Mammals."] Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. {{ISBN|9780521355193}} Tapocyon was about the size of a coyote and is believed to have been a good climber that spent a lot of time in trees.{{cite web |url=http://archive.sdnhm.org/exhibits/mystery/fg_tapocyon.html |title=Tapocyon robustus |publisher=San Diego Natural History Museum |access-date=11 March 2017}}