| Lycaon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| African wild dogs | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Subfamily: | Caninae |
| Tribe: | Canini |
| Genus: | Lycaon Brookes, 1827 |
| Species | |
Lycaon is agenus of canid which includes theAfrican wild dog (Lycaon pictus) and the extinct speciesLycaon sekowei andLycaon magnus.
Thishypercarnivorous and highlycursorial genus is distinguished by accessorycusps on thepremolars. It branched fromthe wolflike canids lineage during thePlio-Pleistocene. Since then,Lycaon has become lighter andtetradactyl, but has remained hypercarnivorous.Lycaon sekowei is known from the early Pleistocene epoch of South Africa and was lesscursorial.[1]
Some researchers consider the extinctCanissubgenusXenocyon as ancestral to bothLycaon andCuon.[2][3]: p149
Other researchers propose that the extinctCanis (Xenocyon)falconeri andCanis (Xenocyon)lycaonoides should be classified under genusLycaon, to give the descent of three chronospecies:L. falconeri in the Late Pliocene of Eurasia →L. lycaonoides in the Early Pleistocene and the beginning of theMiddle Pleistocene of Eurasia and Africa →L. pictus in the Middle–Late Pleistocene and today the extant African descendant.[4]
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