Aug 5, 2025 04:41 PM
(This post was last modified: Aug 5, 2025 04:48 PM by C C.)
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-n...-180987037
INTRO: Long before coyotes and millions of years before wolves, bone-crushing dogs padded across North America. The prehistoric canids came in an array of sizes, from small nippers comparable to foxes to huge, skeleton-busting predators larger than the largest gray wolf. For more than 31 million years, they were among the most versatile carnivores on the continent, and remainders of their prehistoric meals indicate that they truly did eat more bones than other canids. But by 1.8 million years ago, they were all gone.
Paleontologists know bone-crushing dogs by their technical name, borophagines. The short, deep muzzles of the canids have often reminded paleontologists of spotted hyenas, carnivores that are more closely related to cats than dogs. Borophagines evolved jaw specializations to crack open and consume more bone than predators like wolves do.
But as experts have continued to study borophagines, they’ve found that the predators were not simply dogs acting like hyenas. The canids hunted during a span when grasslands populated by immense herbivorous mammals like camels, rhinos, horses and elephants were spreading with them, and borophagines had the ability to bust large carcasses into splinters.
The earliest borophagines evolved in North America about 34 million years ago. The canids evolved from earlier dogs that were lankier and more civet-like. Some remained relatively small and were more omnivorous, similar to foxes and coyotes today. But many evolved to be some of the largest carnivores in their ancient habitats.
Borophagus itself, whose name means “gluttonous eater,” was about the same size as a large coyote. Epicyon was even larger, the biggest dog of all time, standing three feet tall at the shoulder and weighing more than 300 pounds. The tall, short-snouted skulls of these large, bone-crushing forms would have made the dogs look more cat-like than wolf-like. Much like cats and hyenas, the borophagines evolved to prioritize jaw crushing power over faster bites... (MORE - details)
https://youtu.be/R_jL4aNFFS8
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/R_jL4aNFFS8
INTRO: Long before coyotes and millions of years before wolves, bone-crushing dogs padded across North America. The prehistoric canids came in an array of sizes, from small nippers comparable to foxes to huge, skeleton-busting predators larger than the largest gray wolf. For more than 31 million years, they were among the most versatile carnivores on the continent, and remainders of their prehistoric meals indicate that they truly did eat more bones than other canids. But by 1.8 million years ago, they were all gone.
Paleontologists know bone-crushing dogs by their technical name, borophagines. The short, deep muzzles of the canids have often reminded paleontologists of spotted hyenas, carnivores that are more closely related to cats than dogs. Borophagines evolved jaw specializations to crack open and consume more bone than predators like wolves do.
But as experts have continued to study borophagines, they’ve found that the predators were not simply dogs acting like hyenas. The canids hunted during a span when grasslands populated by immense herbivorous mammals like camels, rhinos, horses and elephants were spreading with them, and borophagines had the ability to bust large carcasses into splinters.
The earliest borophagines evolved in North America about 34 million years ago. The canids evolved from earlier dogs that were lankier and more civet-like. Some remained relatively small and were more omnivorous, similar to foxes and coyotes today. But many evolved to be some of the largest carnivores in their ancient habitats.
Borophagus itself, whose name means “gluttonous eater,” was about the same size as a large coyote. Epicyon was even larger, the biggest dog of all time, standing three feet tall at the shoulder and weighing more than 300 pounds. The tall, short-snouted skulls of these large, bone-crushing forms would have made the dogs look more cat-like than wolf-like. Much like cats and hyenas, the borophagines evolved to prioritize jaw crushing power over faster bites... (MORE - details)
https://youtu.be/R_jL4aNFFS8