Lycaon (genus)
Introduction '''''Lycaon''''' is a genus of canid which includes the African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus'') and the extinct species ''Lycaon sekowei'' and ''Lycaon magnus''.
Taxonomy This hypercarnivorous and highly cursorial genus is distinguished by accessory cusps on the premolars. It branched from the wolflike canids lineage during the Plio-Pleistocene. Since then, ''Lycaon'' has become lighter and tetradactyl, but has remained hypercarnivorous. ''Lycaon sekowei'' is known from the early Pleistocene epoch of South Africa and was less cursorial.Some researchers consider the extinct ''Canis'' subgenus ''Xenocyon'' as ancestral to both ''Lycaon'' and ''Cuon''.Other researchers propose that the extinct ''Canis (Xenocyon) falconeri'' and ''Canis (Xenocyon) lycaonoides'' should be classified under genus ''Lycaon'', 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 the Middle Pleistocene of Eurasia and Africa → ''L. pictus'' in the Middle–Late Pleistocene and today the extant African descendant.
See also *Lycaon of Arcadia, a figure from Greek mythology who was transformed into a wolf
References