| Aelurodon Temporal range: Middle Miocene–Late Miocene | |
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| An artist's illustration of Aelurodon. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Genus: | †Aelurodon Leidy, 1858 |
| Species: | †A. ferox |
| Binomial name | |
| †Aelurodon ferox Leidy, 1858 | |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Aelurodon is a genus of canine that lived during the Miocene period of North America. It was part of a group of dogs known as "bone-crushers", or Borophaginids, as their jaw strength was similar to the bone-crushing bite of a modern hyena. They may have hunted in packs like modern wolves.
Description[]
Aelurodon are a part of a clade of canids loosely known as "bone-crushing" or "hyena-like" dogs, that apparently descended from the earlier genera Protomarctus and Tomarctus.[2] 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.[4][2] Large species of Aelurodon (A. ferox and A. taxoides) may have hunted in packs like modern wolves.[5]
The evolution of Aelurodon is characterized by the progressive development of teeth adapted to a more hypercarnivorous diet, a trend consistent with other borophagines.[2] The earliest occurrence of the genus is A. asthenostylus dating from 16–14 Ma. This species then gives rise to two different anagenetic clades around 15 Ma. One comprises the species A. montaneis, A. mcgrewi and A. stirtoni, going extinct around 12 Ma. The other clade persists until 5.3 Ma and includes A. ferox and A. taxoides. A. taxoides is the most derived and largest species in Aelurodon.[1][2]
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