Amphicyon

Name: Amphicyon ‭(‬Ambiguous dog‭)‬.
Phonetic: Am-fee-cie-on.
Named By: Lartet - 1836.
Synonyms: Arctamphicyon?
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Carnivora,‭ ‬Amphicyonidae,‭ ‬Amphicyoninae.
Species: A.‭ ‬intermedius‭ (‬type‭)‬,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬frendens,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬frendes,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬galushai,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬giganteus,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬ingens,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬laugnacensis,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬longiramus,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬major,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬pontoni,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬reinheimeri,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬riggsi, A. zhanxiangi.
Diet: Primarily carnivorous but also thought to be an omnivore.
Size: Up to‭ ‬2.5‭ ‬meters long,‭ ‬but exact size depends upon species.
Known locations: Europe,‭ ‬Middle East,‭ ‬Asia,‭ ‬North America and Southern Africa.
Time period: Aquitanian through to Tortonian of the Miocene.
Fossil representation: Many known specimens allowing for complete restorations.




       In popular culture Amphicyon is possibly the best known genera of the group known as‭ ‘‬bear dogs‭’‬.‭ ‬This group was so named because of the immensely robust build of the body that gave them the appearance of bears even though the‭ ‬heads were more dog-like.‭ ‬Despite this more general name,‭ ‬Amphicyon was not a true dog,‭ ‬although it did live alongside animals that were more closely related to true dogs such as Epicyon.
       Amphicyon was one of the larger examples of the bear dogs,‭ ‬and of the known species A.‭ ‬ingens from North America is often cited as one of the largest.‭ ‬It’s thought that the arrival of amphicyonine bear dogs in North America replaced older carnivores like Hyaenodon as the dominant predators of the land until they themselves were replaced by a combined emergence of new feline and canid predators.
       Although Amphicyon is thought by many to have been an omnivore,‭ ‬it still had dedicated adaptations for hunting.‭ ‬Its sheer physical size meant that it was capable of overpowering many of the potential prey‭ ‬items that it came into contact with,‭ ‬and the especially well developed forelimbs suggest it was capable of wrestling prey to the ground.‭ ‬However this strength came at the price of speed,‭ ‬so Amphicyon would have been restricted to prey that could not run away from it,‭ ‬possibly larger and slower but more powerful animals like Chalicotherium that would have necessitated the extra strength.
       The concept of pack behaviour in Amphicyon has been considered by some,‭ ‬but while it is a possibility there is so far very little in the way of direct evidence to support this behaviour.‭ ‬If Amphicyon was a solitary hunter it may have eventually had to go up against pack animals like wolves,‭ ‬and while some solitary predators can and do hold their ground against wolf packs‭ (‬as can be witnessed today with grizzly bears stealing the kills from packs of‭ ‬grey wolves‭)‬,‭ ‬this is not an absolute rule that can be applied to everything.‭ ‬Such competition could be a key part of the ultimate downfall of Amphicyon as a dominant carnivore,‭ ‬as well as a seeming shift of herbivorous prey animals becoming larger,‭ ‬faster and more powerful in their own rights,‭ ‬meaning that Amphicyon no longer had a size advantage,‭ ‬but possibly a size hindrance.

Further reading
- Third contribution to the Snake Creek Fauna. - Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 50:59-210. - W. D. Matthew - 1924.
- A new Amphicyon from the Deep River Miocene. - Geological Series, Field Museum of Natural History 6(23):341-350. - P. O. McGrew - 1939.
- New Miocene Vertebrates From Florida. - Proceedings of the New England Zoological Club 18:31-38. - T. E. White - 1940.
World beardog Amphicyon (Carnivora, Amphicyonidae) in North America. - Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 279:77-115. - R. M. Hunt jr. - 2003.
- A new amphicyonid (Mammalia, Carnivora, Amphicyonidae) from the late middle Miocene of northern Thailand and a review of the amphicyonine record in Asia. - Thailand Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. 26 (5): 519–532. - Stéphane Peigné, Yaowalak Chaimanee, Chotima Yamee & Pannipa Tian - 2006.



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