Protocyon orocualensis by dopellgersec on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

PALEOFAUNA OF VENEZUELA. The ancestral Canid of Monagas.
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Clarifications: The information about this species dates back to research carried out since 2007, the last update on the subject being the publication of the magazine Ameguiniana 2021. carried out by Damian Ruiz Ramoni, Ascanio Rincon and Xiaoming Wang, Current research could sometimes be changes . But they are solidly supported by national and international paleontologists.

Although the following topic is usually unknown to the public, the truth is that Venezuela has proven to be of enormous importance when it comes to the fossil record and evolution of the Canidae group (wolves, dogs, etc.). From the states of Zulia and Falcón to the state of Monagas, with the discovery of various specimens, from the famous Aenocyon dirus (#dire wolf). Until the lesser known, but no less important Protocyon orocualensis.

Discovered in Monagas, by Ascanio Rincon in the Breal Orocual asphalt well, the second largest well of this type in Venezuela after Guanaco, in the state of Sucre (the latter considered the largest in the world). Protocyon is so far the oldest Canid in South America, it lived between the Pliocene and Pleistocene periods; Belonging to the pigcyonine group, the morphology of its jaws suggests that it may have had a certain resemblance to the current "wild dog", but larger and more robust.

Although not much is known about its lifestyle, what is certain is that it was a skilled and strong carnivorous predator, weighing close to 23 kilos and that probably, like its modern counterpart, the Perro de Monte, hunted large rodents such as #chiguires and animals even larger than this, like deer and deer.🐕🇻🇪

Credits:

Original Research: Dr. Damián Ruiz Ramoni.

Illustration and writing.
Gerardo Guillén Poleo @eldinogerardo