Protomarctus is an extinct monospecific genus of the Borophaginae subfamily of canids native to North America. They lived during the Middle Miocene 16.0—13.6 Mya, existing for approximately 2.4 million years.[1] It was an intermediate-size canid, and more predaceous than earlier borophagines.[2]
| Protomarctus Temporal range:
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Subfamily: | †Borophaginae |
| Tribe: | †Borophagini |
| Genus: | †Protomarctus Wang et al., 1999 |
| Species: | †P. optatus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Protomarctus optatus Matthew, 1924
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The first specimen was found in Thomson Quarry, Sheep Creek Formation, Nebraska in a Hemingfordian layer. Specimens have since been found in present-day Colorado, as far west as California and as far southwest as New Mexico.[1] They were short-faced, heavy-jawed canines.[citation needed]
References edit
- ^ a b PaleoBiology Database: Protomarctus
- ^ Wang, Xiaoming; Tedford, Richard H. (2008). Dogs, Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History. Columbia. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-231-13528-3.
Further reading edit
- Martin, L.D. 1989. Fossil history of the terrestrial Carnivora. Pages 536 - 568 in J.L. Gittleman, editor. Carnivore Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution, Vol. 1. Comstock Publishing Associates: Ithaca.
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