Leptocyon

The genus Leptocyon includes 11 species and is the oldest known canine. They were small and weighed around 2 kilograms (4.4 lb). They first appeared in North America around 34 million years ago in the Oligocene, at the same time as the Borophaginae, with whom they share features, indicating that these were two sister groups. Borophaginae skull and dentition were designed for a powerful killing bite compared with the Leptocyon which were designed for snatching small, fast-moving prey. The species L. delicatus is the smallest canid to have existed. At the close of their genus 9 million years ago one Leptocyon lineage resembled the modern fox.

Leptocyon

William Driller Matthew (1871-1930) · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
CaninaePBDB
Diet
carnivore, omnivorePBDB, for Canidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Canidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 12 million years on record.

The record covers at least 24.7 Mya to 12.5 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 29.5 Mya to 4.7 Mya.

Oligocene — about 9 of 133 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 124 of 133 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 133 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 1 occurrence28–27 Mya — about 1 occurrence27–27 Mya — about 1 occurrence27–26 Mya — about 1 occurrence26–25 Mya — about 1 occurrence25–24 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 2 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 2 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 4 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 6 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 6 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 12 occurrences15–15 Mya — about 12 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 12 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 12 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 12 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 12 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 12 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 12 occurrences9.4–8.5 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences8.5–7.6 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences7.6–6.8 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences6.8–5.9 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences5.9–5.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences5.1–4.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences24.7 Mya12.5 Mya30 Mya4.2 Mya

133 occurrences of Leptocyon on record, most of them in the Miocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

133 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

33 formations

Valentine — 42.70°N, 100.00°WValentine — 42.49°N, 98.11°WValentine — 42.80°N, 100.80°WValentine — 42.81°N, 100.05°WValentine — 40.02°N, 98.53°WValentine — 42.78°N, 100.03°WValentine — 42.60°N, 98.00°WValentine — 42.80°N, 99.70°WValentine — 42.70°N, 102.50°WAsh Hollow — 42.39°N, 98.10°WAsh Hollow — 41.70°N, 103.10°WAsh Hollow — 42.80°N, 100.80°WAsh Hollow — 43.20°N, 100.70°WAsh Hollow — 43.40°N, 100.60°WAsh Hollow — 42.70°N, 100.00°WAsh Hollow — 42.63°N, 100.05°WAsh Hollow — 42.30°N, 98.00°WBarstow — 34.80°N, 117.00°WBarstow — 35.05°N, 117.07°WBarstow — 35.06°N, 117.08°WHarrison — 43.30°N, 102.50°WHarrison — 42.40°N, 103.80°WHarrison — 43.00°N, 104.50°WRunningwater — 42.80°N, 103.10°WRunningwater — 42.20°N, 103.10°WSheep Creek — 42.40°N, 103.80°WTesuque — 35.50°N, 106.20°WTesuque — 36.50°N, 107.00°WOlcott — 42.19°N, 103.73°WOlcott — 42.40°N, 103.80°WJohn Day — 44.67°N, 119.63°WJohn Day — 44.83°N, 119.74°WJohn Day — 44.83°N, 119.76°WWood Mountain — 49.20°N, 106.20°WZia — 35.70°N, 107.00°WDove Spring — 35.30°N, 118.50°WDove Spring — 35.37°N, 117.99°WSharps — 43.30°N, 102.50°WGoliad — 28.60°N, 97.70°Wreferred Chamita — 36.50°N, 107.00°WEsmeralda — 38.25°N, 117.90°WEsmeralda — 37.96°N, 118.03°WSespe — 33.73°N, 117.72°WSespe — 33.60°N, 117.61°WBox Butte — 42.20°N, 103.10°WRosebud — 43.20°N, 100.70°WPawnee Creek Beds — 40.80°N, 103.10°WAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WJuntura — 43.60°N, 117.50°WAvawatz — 34.80°N, 117.00°WGreen Valley — 37.81°N, 121.91°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Leptocyon has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 9 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 21 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Leptocyon and its relatives

Miocene

Where Leptocyon and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

943 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 130 sites for Leptocyon, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

29 references

Each of the 133 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 17 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Leptocyon

Credit
William Driller Matthew (1871-1930)
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Photogrammetry

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Leptocyon leidyi · JODA:2312

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCaninae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Matthew 1918