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| Genus: | Dukecynus Goin, 1997 |
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Dukecynus is an extinctgenus of meat-eatingmetatherian belonging to the orderSparassodonta, which lived inSouth America during theMiddle Miocene (Laventan), between about 13.8 and 11.8 million years ago.[1] The name of the genus meaning "Duke dog", forDuke University and theGreek wordcynos, dog, for the pretended similarity of this animal with dogs. A single species known so far,Dukecynus magnus. The species name "magnus" derives fromLatin for big, to reflect their great size.
Dukecynus is only known from itsholotype, IGM 251149, a heavily damaged partial skull preserving parts of the lower and upper jaw as well as associated fragments of theskeleton.[1] This specimen was discovered at theKonzentrat-LagerstätteLa Venta in theHonda Group,Huila andTolima inColombia. A second fragmentary specimen from La Venta, cataloged as UCMP 39250, consisting of a fragmentary skull and parts of thehumerus andfemur from a juvenile individual, referred to "cf. Arctodictis" by Marshall (1978) could also belong toDukecynus or a similar species.[1][2] Although the affinities of this species have never been formally analysed,Dukecynus is generally considered to be a basal borhyaenoid, aparaphyletic group of sparassodonts that includes genera likeLycopsis andProthylacynus that cannot be assigned to one of the major borhyaenoid families likeBorhyaenidae orThylacosmilidae.[3] Compared to other basal borhyaenoids,Dukecynus had a long, narrow snout and was relatively large, with some estimates suggesting this animal weighed up to 68 kilograms (150 lb).[4]Dukecynus was probably the largest mammalian predator as well as the largest sparassodont at La Venta.
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