Epicyon

Epicyon is a large, extinct, canid genus of the subfamily Borophaginae, native to North America. Epicyon existed for about 7 million years from the early Clarendonian age of the Late Miocene to the late Hemphillian age of the Early Pliocene. E. haydeni is the largest known canid of all time, with the type species reaching 2.4 m (7.9 ft) in length, 90 cm (35 in) in shoulder height and approximately 100–125 kg (220–276 lb) in body mass. The largest known humerus specimen belonged to an individual weighing up to 170 kg (370 lb).

Epicyon

Jonathan Chen · CC BY-SA 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
BorophaginaPBDB
Diet
carnivore, omnivorePBDB, for Canidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Canidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 3.1 million years on record.

The record covers at least 12.5 Mya to 9.4 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 4.7 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 154 occurrencesMiocene — about 147 of 154 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 7 of 154 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences22–22 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences18–18 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 1 occurrence16–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 2 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 2 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 2 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 16 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 18 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 18 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 18 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 18 occurrences9.4–8.7 Mya — about 8 occurrences8.7–8.1 Mya — about 8 occurrences8.1–7.4 Mya — about 8 occurrences7.4–6.8 Mya — about 8 occurrences6.8–6.1 Mya — about 8 occurrences6.1–5.5 Mya — about 8 occurrences5.5–4.8 Mya — about 7 occurrences4.8–4.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences12.5 Mya9.4 Mya23.5 Mya4.2 Mya

154 occurrences of Epicyon on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

154 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

24 formations

Ash Hollow — 42.80°N, 100.80°WAsh Hollow — 42.39°N, 98.10°WAsh Hollow — 40.50°N, 100.50°WAsh Hollow — 43.20°N, 100.70°WAsh Hollow — 42.70°N, 100.00°WAsh Hollow — 41.70°N, 103.10°WAsh Hollow — 41.30°N, 101.89°WAsh Hollow — 41.20°N, 101.80°WAsh Hollow — 41.10°N, 103.00°WAsh Hollow — 42.63°N, 100.05°WAsh Hollow — 42.70°N, 102.50°WAsh Hollow — 42.30°N, 98.00°WSnake Creek — 42.40°N, 103.80°WOgallala — 36.10°N, 99.80°WOgallala — 35.40°N, 101.40°WOgallala — 37.20°N, 99.90°WWood Mountain — 49.20°N, 106.20°WDove Spring — 35.30°N, 118.50°WDove Spring — 35.37°N, 117.99°WAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WAlachua — 29.65°N, 82.60°WAlachua — 29.40°N, 82.60°WMilk Creek — 34.50°N, 112.50°WPeace River — 27.90°N, 81.80°WChamita — 36.50°N, 107.00°WJuntura — 43.60°N, 117.50°WTruckee — 39.50°N, 118.50°WTesuque — 35.50°N, 106.20°WLoup Fork — 42.70°N, 102.50°WBridwell — 33.70°N, 101.10°WCoal Valley — 38.50°N, 118.30°WEsmeralda — 37.96°N, 118.03°WMuddy Creek — 34.70°N, 113.40°WThe Dalles — 44.90°N, 121.30°WThousand Creek — 41.10°N, 117.80°WPopotosa — 34.80°N, 106.90°WChanac — 35.30°N, 118.50°WBidahochi — 35.80°N, 110.10°Wreferred Chamita — 36.50°N, 107.00°WBanta Shut-In — 29.27°N, 103.05°W

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The named rock units Epicyon has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 36 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Epicyon and its relatives

Miocene

Where Epicyon and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

665 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 130 sites for Epicyon, 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

26 references

Each of the 154 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. 14 further references are not listed. 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 Epicyon

Credit
Jonathan Chen
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Epicyon 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 itBorophagina through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Leidy 1858)