- Borophaginae
Taxobox
fossil_range =Oligocene toPliocene (40 - 2.5 Ma)
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Carnivora
familia =Canidae
subfamilia = †Borophaginae
genus =
genus_authority =
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = See textThe
subfamily Borophaginae is an extinct group ofcanids that were endemic toNorth America , and lived from roughly 40 to 2.5 million years ago (Oligocene toPliocene ).cite web | last = Postanowicz | first = Rebecca | title = Lioncrusher's Domain: Canidae | date = | url = http://www.lioncrusher.com/family.asp?family=Canidae | accessdate = 2006-04-12 ]The Borophaginae apparently descended from the subfamily
Hesperocyoninae ; they evolved to become considerably larger than their predecessors, and filled a wide range of niches in lateCenozoic North America, from smallomnivore s to powerful,bear -sized carnivores such as "Epicyon ".cite 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| date = 1999-11-17| url = http://hdl.handle.net/2246/1588| accessdate = 2007-07-08 ]Often generically referred to as "bone-crushing dogs" for their powerful
teeth and jaws, andhyena -like features (although theirdentition was more primitive than that of hyenas), theirfossil s are abundant and widespread; in all likelihood, they were probably one of thetop predator s of theirecosystem .,ref|turner Their good fossil record has also allowed a detailed reconstruction of theirphylogeny , showing that the group was highly diverse in its heyday.Some borophagines were as big as modern day lions. Some resembled raccoons or coyotes and might have been omnivorous.
Noteworthy genera in this group are "
Aelurodon ", "Epicyon ", and "Borophagus " (="Osteoborus ").Classification
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