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"Canis" ferox Revisited: Diet Ecomorphology of Some Long Gone (Late Miocene and Pliocene) Fossil Dogs

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Abstract

The late Miocene was a period of great radiation for the subfamily Caninae in North America. During this time, the early taxa of the two tribes of this subfamily, Vulpini and Canini, arose. Among them, Eucyon is one of the most important elements of the latest Miocene-Pliocene Canidae guild of both North America and Eurasia as they rapidly spread worldwide. The earliest member of the genus Canis, Canis ferox, was also reported from deposits related to this time frame. Recent research has pointed out the disputed nature of several Miocene-Pliocene Caninae, including some species of Eucyon and Eucyon-like taxa. Furthermore, dietary habits of fossil Caninae, such as Eucyon and Eucyon-like taxa, have never been tested before. This current revision of the type and paratype specimens of C. ferox shows numerous cranial and dentognathic features that do not fit with the diagnostic characteristics of the genus Canis and are more consistent with those of Eucyon. Although reopening the question of the origin of Canis, the reassessment of E. ferox points out a previously underestimated ecomorphological variability of Eucyon. The development of some dentognathic features in E. ferox seems to suggest a hypercarnivorous diet. Thanks to selected morphometric ratios, the present study show that Eucyon species apparently had mesocarnivorous diets, with the exception of the large-sized E. ferox. Although it remains difficult to assess if it preyed on small animals or on larger prey, the analyses clearly confirm a highly carnivorous diet for this species.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the kindness and availability of the curator of numerous institutions for granting access to their collections: J. Galkin and J. Meng, for granting access to the collection of fossil mammals of AMNH; G. Koufos of the AUT, M. Bukhsianidze of the GNM; D.M. Alba and J. Madurell-Malapeira of the ICP; E. Cioppi and P. Agnelli, curators of the IGF and of the MZUF, respectively. The authors thank Dr. Flavia Strani for providing us a fantastic restoration of the life appearance of E. ferox. Thanks to two anonymous reviewers for their help improving the manuscript. This research has been partly supported by the SYNTHESYS Project http://www.synthesys.info/ (Project Numbers ES-TAF-6553, HU-TAF-6520 to SBL), which is financed by European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 “Capacities” Program, and by the Earth Sciences Department, University of Florence (Ateneo funds, and International mobility funds to LR).

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  1. Museo di Storia Naturale, Geology and Paleontology section, University of Florence, Via G. La Pira 4, 50121, Florence, Italy

    Saverio Bartolini Lucenti

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, University of Florence, Via G. La Pira 4, 50121, Florence, Italy

    Saverio Bartolini Lucenti & Lorenzo Rook

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  1. Saverio Bartolini Lucenti
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Bartolini Lucenti, S., Rook, L. "Canis" ferox Revisited: Diet Ecomorphology of Some Long Gone (Late Miocene and Pliocene) Fossil Dogs. J Mammal Evol 28, 285–306 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-020-09500-1

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