Enhydrocyon
Sign in to saveEnhydrocyon is an extinct genus of bone crushing canid which inhabited North America during the Oligocene and Early Miocene, 30.8—20.4 Ma, existing for approximately .
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Enhydrocyon is an extinct genus of bone crushing canid which inhabited North America during the Oligocene and Early Miocene, 30.8—20.4 Ma, existing for approximately .
Enhydrocyon dentition suggests this animal was a hypercarnivore or mesocarnivore. Species of Enhydrocyon were relatively large, powerfully built carnivores with a short snout and deep jaws reminiscent of a jaguar. These features give the skull a shape resembling that of the extant sea otter (Enhydra), prompting the scientific name. With an estimated weight of about , this was the earliest genus of canid adapted to be specialized predators.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Enhydrocyon” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.