Osbornodon iamonensis

Osbornodon iamonensis
Osbornodon iamonensis
Temporal range: Early Oligocene–Early Miocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Osbornodon
Type species
Osbornodon iomonensis
Approximate range of Osbornodon iamonensis based on fossil distribution

Osbornodon iamonensis is an extinct species of bone-crushing Hesperocyoninae, a predecessor of modern dogs that were endemic to North America and which lived from the Orellan age of the Early Oligocene to Early Miocene epoch 23.6—16.3 Ma and existed for approximately 7.3 million years. [1]

O. iamonensis was named by E. H. Sellards in 1916 for Lake Iamonia in northern Florida.

Contents

Taxonomy

Osbornodon iamonensis was named by E. H. Sellards (1916). Its type is FGS 5082. It was recombined as Cynodesmus iamonensis by Simpson (1932), Olsen (1956) and Wilson (1960); it was recombined as Osbornodon iamonensis by Xiaoming Wang (1994), X. Wang and Richard H. Tedford (1996) and Hayes (2000). It was assigned to Mesocyon by Sellards (1916); to Cynodesmus by Simpson (1932), Olsen (1956) and Wilson (1960); and to Osbornodon by Wang (1994), Wang and Tedford (1996) and Hayes (2000).[2][3]

Morphology

Two fossil specimens were examined by Legendre and Roth for body mass.

  • Specimen 1 was estimated to have weighed 17.6 kg (39 lb).
  • Specimen 2 was estimated to have weighed 16.2 kg (36 lb).[4]

Fossil distribution

  • Griscom Plantation Site, northeast Leon County, Florida. ~23.6—18.8 Mya.
  • Thomas Farm site in Gilchrist County, Florida. ~21.7 Mya.
  • The remaining two specimens were found in the Dry Creek Prospect B Site and Bridgeport Quarries Site of Nebraska. ~20.6—16.3 Mya.

References

  1. ^ Paleobiology Database: Osbornodon iamonensis Basic info.
  2. ^ E. H. Sellards. 1916. Fossil vertebrates from Florida: A new Miocene fauna; new Pliocene species; the Pleistocene fauna. Florida State Geological Survey Annual Report 8:79-119
  3. ^ X. Wang and R. H. Tedford. 1996. in Prothero and Emry
  4. ^ S. Legendre and C. Roth. 1988. Correlation of carnassial tooth size and body weight in recent carnivores (Mammalia). Historical Biology 1(1):85-98