Philotrox

Philotrox Temporal range: Early Oligocene–Late Oligocene PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Canidae
Subfamily:	†Hesperocyoninae
Genus:	†Philotrox Merriam, 1906
Species:	†P. condoni
Binomial name
†Philotrox condoni Merriam, 1906

Philotrox is an extinct genus of bone crushing omnivorous mammal similar to a dog of the family Canidae which inhabited North America during the Oligocene living from 30.8—26.3 Ma and existed for approximately 4.5 million years. ^[1]

Taxonomy

Philotrox was named by Merriam (1906). Its type is Philotrox condoni. It was assigned to Canidae by Merriam (1906) and Carroll (1988).^[2] Only a single species, Philotrox condoni, is recognized.

Morphology

Two specimens were examined by Legendre and Roth for body mass. The first specimen was estimated to weigh 14.6 kg (32 lb). The second specimen was estimated to weigh 13.6 kg (30 lb).^[3]

References

1. http://paleobackup.nceas.ucsb.edu:8110/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=41234&is_real_user=1 Philotrox: Basic info.
2. R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company
3. S. Legendre and C. Roth. 1988. Correlation of carnassial tooth size and body weight in recent carnivores (Mammalia). Historical Biology 1(1):85-98

• Wang, X. 1994. Phylogenetic systematics of the Hesperocyoninae (Carnivora, Canidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 221:1-207.