| Cynodictis Temporal range: Late Eocene–Early Oligocene | |
|---|---|
| |
| Cynodictis elegans as it appeared in Walking with Beasts | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Family: | †Amphicyonidae |
| Genus: | †Cynodictis Bravard and Pomel, 1850 |
| Species: | C. elegans |
| Type species | |
| Cynodictis elegans Bravard and Pomel, 1850 | |
Cynodictis elegans ("slender dog marten") is an extinct amphicyonid carnivoran which inhabited Eurasia from the Late Eocene epoch to the Early Oligocene epoch living from 37.2—28.4 Ma, existing for approximately 8.8 million years. Its type species is named C. elegans.
Description[]
Cynodictis had a long muzzle and a low-slung body. It had carnassial teeth for slicing chunks of meat off carcasses. It was about 30 cm at the shoulder.
Discovery[]
Fossil specimens have been found from Mengjiapo, China to the Isle of Wight, Great Britain as well as Weisserburg, Germany and 3 sites in France.
In popular culture[]
- Cynodictis are depicted in an episode of the series Walking with Beasts. In the third episode Land of Giants, they were identified as "bear-dogs". One "bear-dog" drives away a young Paraceratherium from her litter of pups. The animation shows Cynodictis as digitigrade, walking on its toes, like wolves and dogs do today. Cynodictis was actually plantigrade, meaning that it walked on its whole foot like bears and humans.