Ischyrocyon

Name: Ischyrocyon.
Phonetic: Is-che-ro-sy-on.
Named By: Matthew and Gidley‭ ‬-‭ ‬1904.
Synonyms: Hadrocyon.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Carnivora,‭ ‬Caniformia,‭ ‬Amphicyonidae.
Species: I.‭ ‬hyaenodus‭ (‬type‭)‬,‭ ‬I.‭ ‬gidleyi.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Weight estimated around‭ ‬161‭ ‬kilograms.
Known locations: USA.
Time period: Burdigalian to Tortonian of the Miocene.
Fossil representation: Multiple specimens.

       Ischyrocyon‭ ‬appears to have been around mid-sized for one of the North American bear dogs being much bigger than some genera such as Temnocyon and Cynelos,‭ ‬but still much smaller than giants like Amphicyon.‭ ‬The type species name I.‭ ‬hyaenodus means‭ ‘‬hyaena tooth‭’‬,‭ ‬a reference to the similarity of the teeth of Ischyrocyon to those of a hyaena.‭ ‬Caution should be taken not to confuse I.‭ ‬hyaenodus with the similarly named Hyaenodon however,‭ ‬a genus of creodont mammal that hunted across Africa,‭ ‬Eurasia and North America long before the appearance of Ischyrocyon.

Further reading
- New or little known mammals from the Miocene of South Dakota : American Museum expedition of 1903. - Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 20(22):241-268. - W. D. Matthew & J. W. Gidley - 1904.



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