Aelurodon

Taxobox
name = "Aelurodon"
fossil_range = middle to late Miocene


image_caption = Skull of "Aelurodon taxoides"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Carnivora
familia = Canidae
subfamilia = †Borophaginae
genus = †"Aelurodon"
genus_authority = Leidy, 1858
type_species = †"Aelurodon ferox"
subdivision_ranks = Speciescite journal| last = Wang| first = Xiaoming| coauthors = Richard Tedford, Beryl Taylor| title = Phylogenetic systematics of the Borophaginae| journal = Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History| volume = 243 | pages = 1–391| date = 1999-11-17| url = http://www.nhm.org/expeditions/rrc/wang/documents/Wangetal1999borophaginemonographpart1.pdf| accessdate = 2007-07-08 |format=PDF] cite journal| last = Wang| first = Xiaoming| coauthors = Benjamin Wideman, Ralph Nichols, Debra Hanneman| title = A new species of "Aelurodon" (Carnivora, Canidae) from the Barstovian of Montana| journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology| volume = 24 | issue = 2 | pages = 445–452| month = June | year = 2004| url = http://www.nhm.org/expeditions/rrc/wang/documents/Wangetal2004MontanaAelurodon.pdf| accessdate = 2007-07-08| doi = 10.1671/2493 |format=PDF]
subdivision =
* †"A. asthenostylus"
* †"A. ferox"
* †"A. mcgrewi"
* †"A. montanensis"
* †"A. stirtoni"
* †"A. taxoides"
synonyms =
* "Prohyaena" Schlosser, 1890
* "Strobodon" Webb, 1969

"Aelurodon" ("cat tooth") is an extinct genus of the subfamily Borophaginae. Part of a clade of canids loosely known as "bone-crushing" or "hyena-like" dogs, "Aelurodon" apparently descended from the earlier genera"Protomarctus" and "Tomarctus". Several species are known from fossils found in the central and western U.S., suggesting a wide geographic range during their peak in the Miocene epoch. [http://bnhm.berkeley.edu/browse/vertebrates_Mammalia_Carnivora_Canidae_Aelurodon_all.php] List of "Aelurodon" specimens from the Berkeley Natural History Museum. (Accessed 4/11/06)] Large species of "Aelurodon" ("A. ferox" and "A. taxoides") may have hunted in packs like living wolves.cite journal | author = Van Valkenburgh, B. | coauthors = Sacco, T.; Wang, X. | year = 2003 | title = Pack hunting in Miocene borophagine dogs: evidence from craniodental morphology and body size | journal = Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History | volume = 279 | pages = 147–162| url =http://www.nhm.org/expeditions/rrc/wang/documents/VanValkenburghetal2003packhunting.pdf | accessdate = 2008-05-02|format=PDF]

Species

Six species of "Aelurodon" are recognized. "Aelurodon asthenostylus" was the earliest occurring species and it was probably a direct descendant of "Tomarctus" (specifically "T. brevirostris"). "A. asthenostylus" was itself the likely ancestor of all other "Aelurodon" species, which can be divided into two evolutionary lineages. Over time, members of one lineage ("A. ferox" → "A. taxoides") became larger, while members of the second lineage became progressively smaller ("A. montanensis" → "A. stirtoni" → "A. mcgrewi"). Additionally, the smaller lineage evolved teeth adapted to a more purely carnivorous (hypercarnivorous) diet, a trend consistent with other borophagines. Some specimens of the largest species, "Aelurodon taxoides", reached the size of a tiger.

ee also

*"Borophagus"

References: