Bassariscus lycopotamicus is an extinct small carnivoran that the Paleobiology Database places in the genus of the living ringtail and cacomistle, in the raccoon family Procyonidae. Edward Cope first described it in 1879 from a fragment of lower jaw, naming it as an otter-like form; the original specimen has since been lost and is known only from a published figure. The database dates the species from the Burdigalian to the Serravallian stage, about sixteen to twelve and a half million years ago, and records two occurrences in Grant County, Oregon. It treats the animal as terrestrial and actively mobile, with an arboreal habit and a diet of fruit and meat, but those habits are borrowed from the genus and the family and are not observed in this species.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) Living or Extinct Scientific NameBassariscus lycopotamicus 2 Conservation Status Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Bassariscus (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Yale Peabody Museum (Postilla): Bassariscus in Miocene faunas and "Potamotherium lycopotamicum Cope"Abstract, type localityQuote, Abstract, type locality
Loup Fork of Cottonwood Creek, Oregon
Sources
1. Bassariscus lycopotamicus (Paleobiology Database)
Taxon record, extant status
"is_extant": "extinct"
Ecospace record, environment
"taxon_environment": "terrestrial"
Ecospace record, diet, taken from Procyonidae
"diet": "frugivore, carnivore"
View the Source2. Yale Peabody Museum (Postilla): Bassariscus in Miocene faunas and "Potamotherium lycopotamicum Cope"
Yale Peabody Museum (Postilla)Abstract, original descriptionQuote, Abstract, original description
The type has been lost
View the Source Bassariscus (Wikipedia)
Child Taxon Of: Procyonidae, Lead
Bassariscus is a genus in the family Procyonidae
In Group: Mustelids, Procyonids And Other Carnivorans, Lead, family
Bassariscus is a genus in the family Procyonidae
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