Biology:Subparictidae
| Subparictidae | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Superfamily: | Ursoidea |
| Family: | †Subparictidae Baskin and Tedford, 1996 |
| Genera | |
Subparictidae is an extinct family of early Paleogene arctoid carnivorans endemic to North America that closely related to bears. They were small, raccoon-like mammals that lived from the Eocene to the early Miocene. This family includes a handful of genera such as Subparictis, Parictis, Nothocyon, and Eoarctos.[1]
Characteristics
Unlike other early caniforms, subparictids had simple molars and surrounding or at least partial cingulums.[1]
Systematics
Subparictidae was originally described in 1996 to contain the genera Subparictis, Nothocyon, and Parictis. At the time, it was suggested to be a sister-family to Ursidae.[2] Other authors have placed Parictis and Subparictis in the Amphicynodontidae.[3][4][5] A fourth genus, Eoarctos, was described in 2023 and the paper supports a sister grouping of subparictids and ursids.[1]
Below is the phylogeny recovered by Wang et al. (2023):[1]
| Subparictidae |
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Paleobiology
The subparictids are currently found in North America. Coming from the Paleogene period fossils have been found Chadronian through Whitneyan of the northern Great Plains of United States and southern Canada, as well as the Arikareean from Oregon. Early members of the group were in competition with the earliest canids, often found in the periphery in sites where they are found. Within the family over time, the genera Eoarctos and Nothocyon had evolved increasingly robust teeth adapted for durophagy. Based on the complete anatomical remains of Eoarctos, the subparictids would have occupied an ecological niche similar to procyonids and gulonines.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Wang, Xiaoming; Emry, Robert J.; Boyd, Clint A.; Person, Jeff J.; White, Stuart C.; Tedford, Richard H. (2022). "An exquisitely preserved skeleton of Eoarctos vorax (Nov. Gen. Et sp.) from Fitterer Ranch, North Dakota (Early Oligocene) and systematics and phylogeny of North American early arctoids (Carnivora, Caniformia)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 42: 1–123. doi:10.1080/02724634.2022.2145900. Bibcode: 2022JVPal..42S...1W.
- ↑ Baskin, J. A.; Tedford, R. H. (1996). Small arctoid and feliform carnivorans. 486–497. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511665431.025. ISBN 9780521433877.
- ↑ McKenna, M.C.; Bell, S. (1997). Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level.. Columbia University Press, New York.
- ↑ Rybczynski, N.; Dawson, M.R.; Tedford, R.H. (2009). "A semi-aquatic Arctic mammalian carnivore from the Miocene epoch and origin of Pinnipedia". Nature 458 (7241): 1021–24. doi:10.1038/nature07985. PMID 19396145. Bibcode: 2009Natur.458.1021R.
- ↑ Berta, A.; Morgan, C.; Boessenecker, R.W. (2018). "The Origin and Evolutionary Biology of Pinnipeds: Seals, Sea Lions, and Walruses". Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 46: 203–228. doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-082517-010009. Bibcode: 2018AREPS..46..203B.
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