Limnocyon

Limnocyon
Temporal range: middle Eocene
Skull of Limnocyon verus
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: †Hyaenodonta
Family: †Hyaenodontidae
Subfamily: †Limnocyoninae
Genus: †Limnocyon
Marsh, 1872
Type species
†Limnocyon verus
Marsh, 1872
Species
  • †L. cuspidens (Morlo & Gunnell, 2005)
  • †L. potens (Matthew, 1909)
  • †L. verus (Marsh, 1872)
Synonyms
synonyms of genus:
  • Telmatocyon (Marsh, 1899)
synonyms of species:
  • L. potens:
    • Limnocyon douglassi (Peterson, 1919)
    • Limnocyon protens (Kay, 1957)
  • L. verus:
    • Limnocyon riparius (Marsh, 1872)
    • Oxyaenodon wortmani (Van Valen, 1966)
    • Sinopa vera (Matthew, 1899)
    • Sinopa verus (Matthew, 1901)
    • Stypolophus verus
    • Telmatocyon riparius (Marsh, 1899)
    • Triacodon grandis (Marsh, 1872)
    • Viverravus riparius (Marsh, 1872)

Limnocyon ("swamp dog") is an extinct paraphyletic genus of limnocyonid hyaenodonts that lived in North America during the middle Eocene. Fossils of this animal have been found in California, Utah and Wyoming.

Description

Limnocyon was a small omnivorous hyaenodontid, with some estimates placing it at less than 1 kg in weight. Like other limnocyonids, Limnocyon had only two molars in the upper and lower dentition.