Protocyon

Protocyon
Temporal occurrence
	until about 10,000 years ago
Locations
	South America ( Peru , Brazil, Argentina);
Systematics
	Predators (Carnivora)
	Canine (Caniformia)
	Dogs (Canidae)
	Caninae
	Real dogs (Canini)
	Protocyon
Scientific name
	Protocyon
	Gable , 1855

Protocyon is a medium-sized extinct genus of dogs (Canidae) that lived in the Pleistocene of South America and became extinct about 10,000 years ago.

Protocyon inhabited the grasslands of South America until the end of the Pleistocene and was a highly specialized carnivore. He is likely to have mainly fed on the numerous species of deer, camel and peccary, as well as wild horses that populated the grasslands of South America in the Pleistocene. It may also have captured the young of even larger species.

The genus is known in three fossil species, each geographically represented.

Protocyon troglodytes , Brazil
Protocyon orcesi , Ecuador
Protocyon scagliarum , Argentina

The genus Theriodictis , which is also extinct, has a similar shape .

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↑ ^a ^b Oliveira, É. V., Prevosti, FJ & Pereira, JC (2005). Protocyon troglodytes (Lund) (Mammalia, Carnivora) in the late Pleistocene of Rio Grande do Sul and their paleoecological significance. REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE PALEONTOLOGIA, 8 (3).
^ Prevosti, FJ, Zurita, AE, Carlini, AA (2005). Biostratigraphy, systematics, and paleoecology of Protocyon Giebel, 1855 (Carnivora, Canidae) in South America. Journal of South American Earth Sciences Volume 20, Issues 1-2, Pages 5-12

[Oliveira_et_al.,_2005-1] Oliveira, É. V., Prevosti, FJ & Pereira, JC (2005). Protocyon troglodytes (Lund) (Mammalia, Carnivora) in the late Pleistocene of Rio Grande do Sul and their paleoecological significance. REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE PALEONTOLOGIA, 8 (3).

[2] Prevosti, FJ, Zurita, AE, Carlini, AA (2005). Biostratigraphy, systematics, and paleoecology of Protocyon Giebel, 1855 (Carnivora, Canidae) in South America. Journal of South American Earth Sciences Volume 20, Issues 1-2, Pages 5-12