Canis cedazoensis is an extinct species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of smaller Canidae

Canidae

Canidae is the biological family of carnivorous and omnivorous mammals that includes wolves, foxes, jackals, coyotes, and domestic dogs. A member of this family is called a canid . The Canidae family is divided into two tribes: Canini and Vulpini...

 which was endemic to North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 from the Blancan

Blancan

The Blancan North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology , typically set from 4,750,000 to 1,808,000 years BP, a period of .. It is usually considered to start in the early-mid Pliocene epoch and end...

 stage of the Pliocene

Pliocene

The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...

 epoch through the Irvingtonian

Irvingtonian

The Irvingtonian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology , typically set from 1,800,000 to 300,000 years BP, a period of . It is usually considered to overlap the Lower Pleistocene and Middle...

 stage of the Pleistocene

Pleistocene

The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....

 epoch living 4.9 Ma—300,000 years ago. Canis cedazoensis existed for approximately .

Taxonomy

Canis cedazoensis was named by O. Mooser and W. W. Dalquest. 1975.

Morphology

The morphology and dentition of C. cedazoensis suggests a hypercarnivorous

Hypercarnivore

A hypercarnivore is an animal which has a diet that is more than 70% meat, with the balance consisting of non-animal foods such as fungi, fruits or other plant material. Some examples include the big cats, dolphins, eagles, snakes, marlin, most sharks, and such invertebrates as octopuses and sea...

 jackal

Jackal

Although the word jackal has been historically used to refer to many small- to medium-sized species of the wolf genus of mammals, Canis, today it most properly and commonly refers to three species: the black-backed jackal and the side-striped jackal of sub-Saharan Africa, and the golden jackal of...

-like animal than what is seen in any current jackal or species of its time. C. cedazoensis is close in size to Canis aureus. C. cedazoensis appears to form an endemic clade

Clade

A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

 with Canis thooides and Canis feneus, and is possibly descended from Canis lepophagus

Canis lepophagus

Canis lepophagus or Hare-eating Wolf is an extinct species of canidae which was endemic to much of North America and lived from the Miocene epoch through Early Pleistocene, 10.3—1.8 Mya. The species existed for approximately . It is one of the more basal species of Canis, having existed before most...

.

Shared habitat

C. cedazoensis would have shared its habitat with both canids Armbruster's Wolf and Dire Wolf

Dire Wolf

The Dire Wolf, Canis dirus, is an extinct carnivorous mammal of the genus Canis, and was most common in North America and South America from the Irvingtonian stage to the Rancholabrean stage of the Pleistocene epoch living 1.80 Ma – 10,000 years ago, existing for approximately .- Relationships...

  for approximately before becoming extinct about the same time as C. armbrusti. Other competitors would have been the felidae Smilodon

Smilodon

Smilodon , often called a saber-toothed cat or saber-toothed tiger, is an extinct genus of machairodonts. This saber-toothed cat was endemic to North America and South America, living from near the beginning through the very end of the Pleistocene epoch .-Etymology:The nickname "saber-tooth" refers...

 and Homotherium

Homotherium

Homotherium is an extinct genus of machairodontine saber-toothed cats, often termed scimitar cats, endemic to North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs , existing for approximately .It first became extinct in Africa some 1.5 million years ago...

.

Fossil distribution

The first fossil record was found in Cedazo, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 in an Irvingtonian terrestrial horizon. The second site was in eastern Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

.