Magericyon

{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivores}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Late Miocene {{Fossil range|10|9}} | image = Magericyon anceps - Batallones 1 fossil site, Torrejón de Velasco, Madrid, Spain 02.jpg | image_caption = ''Magericyon anceps'' | taxon = Magericyon | authority = Peigne, Salesa, Anton, Morales, 2008 | type_species = '''''Magericyon anceps''''' | type_species_authority = Peigne, Salesa, Anton, Morales, 2008 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *†''M. anceps'' Peigne, Salesa, Anton, Morales, 2008 *†''M. castellanus'' (Ginsburg, Morales, Soria, 1981) }}

'''''Magericyon''''' is an extinct genus of amphicyonid ("bear-dog") that lived during the Miocene 10-9 Ma (Vallesian Age) in what is now Spain.

==Classification== ''Magericyon'' was described for the first time in 2008, based on fossils found in Cerro de los Batallones in Spain. The type species is ''Magericyon anceps'', but a second species has also been attributed to the genus as ''M. castellanus'', described in 1981 and initially attributed to the genus ''Amphicyon''. ''Magericyon'' is part of the family Amphicyonidae, a group of very common carnivores ranging from the Eocene to the Miocene, and which occupied many different ecological niches. ''Magericyon'' is the last amphicyonid known from Western Europe. Evidence also indicates that ''Magericyon'' was closely related to ''Amphicyon''.<ref name="auto" /><ref name="auto1" /> ==Description== The body of this animal was vaguely similar to that of a particularly robust, large felid, but the skull resembles that of a canid or an ursid, like that of many amphicyonids. Unlike most other amphicyonids, ''Magericyon'' had teeth associated with those of a hypercarnivore, with laterally flattened canines, the third premolar having a single root, the absence of second premolars, and a metaconid on its lower molars with a reduction in the second upper molar. The scapula and the front leg showed primitive features such as an acromion in the shoulder with a reduced caudoventral projection and post scapular pit.<ref name="auto">Peigné, S., Salesa, M. J., Antón, M. & Morales, J., 2008: A new amphicyonine (Carnivora: Amphicyonidae) from the upper Miocene of Batallones-1, Madrid, Spain. Palaeontology: Vol. 51, #4, pp. 943</ref><ref name="auto1">Siliceo, G., Salesa, M. J., Antón, M., Pastor, J. F., Morales, J. 2015. Comparative Anatomy of the Shoulder Region in the Late Miocene Amphicyonid Magericyon anceps (Carnivora): Functional and Paleoecological Inferences. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 22: 243–258.</ref> ''Magericyon'' was one of the largest predators in its environment, weighing around {{convert|172-205|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name="auto1" />

==Paleobiology==

=== Palaeoecology === ''Magericyon'' occupied a different ecological niche than other amphicyonids, such as the larger ''Amphicyon'' and ''Ysengrinia'' (which had lifestyles more akin to bears) or ''Daphoenodon'' and ''Temnocyon'' of North America, which were more capable runners. ''Magericyon'' probably lived in a similar manner to that of modern felines, being an ambush hunter of large prey.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/> Studies by Gemo Siliceo ''et al'' also revealed that ''Magericyon'' had powerful jaw and neck muscles that helped to stabilize its head and jaws during a bite. ''Magericyon'' was particularly adept at side-to-side movements and rotations of the head. This feature allowed ''Magericyon'' to swiftly and efficiently process the meat on a carcass, allowing the animal to consume sufficient amounts of flesh before scavengers could take over its kill.<ref name="blogs.scientificamerican.com">{{Cite web |title=The Bite of the Bear Dog |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/laelaps/the-bite-of-the-bear-dog/#}}</ref>[[File:Vallesian Cerro de los Batallones environment and fauna.jpg|thumb|right|Vallesian environment and fauna of Cerro de los Batallones including ''M. anceps'' (on the ground), by Mauricio Antón]] As a carnivore at Cerro de los Battalones, ''Magericyon'' shared the apex predator position with two saber-toothed cat species, the leopard-sized ''Promegantereon ogygia'' and the tiger-sized ''Machairodus aphanistus.'' Evidence indicates that the large carnivores may have co-existed using niche partitioning''.'' A δ13C bone analysis matched isotope profiles in prey species with their predators, showing both cats hunted prey that typically live in closed woodland habitats, such as pigs of the genus ''Microstonyx'' and perhaps occasionally young of the "tetralophodont gomphothere" ''Tetralophodon''. ''Magericyon'' ate medium-sized prey that live in more open habitats, with the antelope ''Austroportax'' being an important food source and hipparionine horses also present in the diet.<ref name="ResourcePartitioningPredators" /> Taphonomic evidence suggests moschids were on the menu of ''M. anceps'' as well.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Domingo |first1=María Soledad |last2=Sánchez |first2=Israel M. |last3=Alberdi |first3=María Teresa |last4=Azanza |first4=Beatriz |last5=Morales |first5=Jorge |date=21 October 2011 |title=Evidence of predation/scavenging on Moschidae (Mammalia, Ruminantia) from the Late Miocene of Spain |url=https://www.scup.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1502-3931.2011.00294.x |journal=Lethaia |language=en |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=386–400 |doi=10.1111/j.1502-3931.2011.00294.x |issn=0024-1164 |access-date=7 March 2026 |via=Scandinavian University Press|hdl=2027.42/92040 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Because the site attracted all three species as a predator trap, ''Magericyon'' may also have taken carrion or injured animals of various kinds, though its teeth show it was specialized as a hypercarnivore without the bone-cracking adaptations of many other bear-dogs.<ref name="ResourcePartitioningPredators">{{Cite journal|last1=Domingo|first1=M. Soledad|last2=Domingo|first2=Laura|last3=Badgley|first3=Catherine|last4=Sanisidro|first4=Oscar|last5=Morales|first5=Jorge|date=7 January 2013|title=Resource partitioning among top predators in a Miocene food web|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=280|issue=1750|article-number=20122138|doi=10.1098/rspb.2012.2138|pmc=3574434|pmid=23135673}}</ref>

''Magericyon'' may have competed at times with large omnivorous bears such as ''Agriotherium'' and ''Indarctos'', but these genera fed more on plant material.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sorkin|first1=Boris|date=1 January 2006|title=Ecomorphology of the giant short-faced bears Agriotherium and Arctodus|journal=Historical Biology|volume=18|issue=1|pages=1–20|doi=10.1080/08912960500476366|bibcode=2006HBio...18....1S |s2cid=85301983 |issn=0891-2963}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mafiadoc.com/late-miocene-indarctos-punjabiensis-atticus-zoological-institute_5a6cde1d1723dd9b54002e62.html|title=Late Miocene Indarctos punjabiensis atticus ... - Zoological Institute|website=mafiadoc.com|language=en|access-date=2020-03-15}}</ref> As well as ''Austroportax'' and ''Hippotherium,'' its prey could have included young of the hornless rhinoceros ''Aceratherium'' and possibly the calves of the large sivatherine giraffes and boselaphine antelopes. Since its choice of prey suggests it lived in open country, while its legs conversely were not designed for speed, ''Magericyon'' probably would have engaged in kleptoparasitism against any of the smaller carnivores in the region or in scavenging when the opportunity presented itself.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Antón|first1=Mauricio|title=Sabertooth|date=2013|publisher=University of Indiana Press|location=Bloomington, Indiana|isbn=978-0-253-01042-1|page=52}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Amphicyonidae Category:Miocene Amphicyonidae Category:Miocene mammals of Europe Category:Fossils of Spain Category:Fossil taxa described in 2008 Category:Prehistoric carnivoran genera