Amphicynodon

Amphicynodon was an extinct genus of caniform carnivore. It has traditionally been considered an early bear, although recent evidence has suggested it may be a unique member linked to other pinnipeds. It was endemic to Europe and Asia during the Oligocene, from approximately 33.9—28.4 Mya and existing for approximately 6 million years. It was similar in size to early mustelids.

Amphicynodon

WANG, XIAOMING; McKENNA, MALCOLM C.; DASHZEVEG, DEMBERELYIN · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
AmphicynodontinaePBDB
Diet
herbivore, carnivorePBDB, for Ursidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Ursidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At most 11 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 33.9 Mya and 23.04 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Eocene — about 0 of 21 occurrencesOligocene — about 21 of 21 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 0 of 21 occurrences34–34 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences34–33 Mya — about 1 occurrence33–33 Mya — about 1 occurrence33–32 Mya — about 1 occurrence32–32 Mya — about 1 occurrence32–32 Mya — about 1 occurrence32–31 Mya — about 1 occurrence31–31 Mya — about 1 occurrence31–30 Mya — about 1 occurrence30–30 Mya — about 1 occurrence30–30 Mya — about 1 occurrence30–29 Mya — about 1 occurrence29–29 Mya — about 1 occurrence29–28 Mya — about 1 occurrence28–28 Mya — about 1 occurrence28–28 Mya — about 1 occurrence28–27 Mya — about 1 occurrence27–27 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences26–26 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences26–26 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences25–25 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences25–25 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences24–24 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences23–23 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences34.4 Mya22.5 Mya

21 occurrences of Amphicynodon on record, most of them in the Oligocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

21 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

4 formations

Hsanda Gol — 45.27°N, 101.77°EHsanda Gol — 45.30°N, 101.62°EHsanda Gol — 45.39°N, 101.24°EHsanda Gol — 45.30°N, 102.08°EWulanbulage — 39.83°N, 108.73°EUlantatal — 39.20°N, 105.57°EAlzey — 49.79°N, 7.98°E

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The named rock units Amphicynodon has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 11 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Amphicynodon and its relatives

Oligocene

Where Amphicynodon and its relatives were recorded in the Oligocene.

Found in the same rock

277 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 15 sites for Amphicynodon, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

10 references

Each of the 21 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Amphicynodon

Credit
WANG, XIAOMING; McKENNA, MALCOLM C.; DASHZEVEG, DEMBERELYIN
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Amphicynodon was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAmphicynodontinae through timeFormations of the OligoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Filhol 1881