Magericyon

Magericyon is an extinct genus of amphicyonid ("bear-dog") that lived during the Miocene 10-9 Ma (Vallesian Age) in what is now Spain.

==Classification== Magericyon was described for the first time in 2008, based on fossils found in Cerro de los Batallones in Spain. The type species is Magericyon anceps, but a second species has also been attributed to the genus as M. castellanus, described in 1981 and initially attributed to the genus Amphicyon. Magericyon is part of the family Amphicyonidae, a group of very common carnivores ranging from the Eocene to the Miocene, and which occupied many different ecological niches. Magericyon is the last amphicyonid known from Western Europe. Evidence also indicates that Magericyon was closely related to Amphicyon. ==Description== The body of this animal was vaguely similar to that of a particularly robust, large felid, but the skull resembles that of a canid or an ursid, like that of many amphicyonids. Unlike most other amphicyonids, Magericyon had teeth associated with those of a hypercarnivore, with laterally flattened canines, the third premolar having a single root, the absence of second premolars, and a metaconid on its lower molars with a reduction in the second upper molar. The scapula and the front leg showed primitive features such as an acromion in the shoulder with a reduced caudoventral projection and post scapular pit. Magericyon was one of the largest predators in its environment, weighing around .