Oxyaena, Procyon and Arctictis

Oxyaena lupina (Cope 1874; Paleocene-Eocene, 55-50 mya; 1 m long) was a leopard-like predator. Some say it was plantigrade. Here it is shown digitigrade and this seems appropriate. Traditionally considered a creodont, here this cat-like meat-eater nests with Procyon, the much smaller extant raccoon, via phylogenetic miniaturization and with Nasua, the extant coatimundi. Thinner outlines are missing parts. Arrow points to two different premaxillae. The bone alone is likely correct AND it looks more like the premaxillae in Procyon and Nasua, the liviing coatimundi.

coatimundi, lemur and raccoon compared in vivo

Procyon lotor (Linneaus 1758, up to 40 cm in length, Pliocene, 10 mya to present) is the common raccoon from North America. It has digitigrade fore feet and plantigrade hind feet. It is an omnivore among carnivores.

Meerkat and raccoon Procyon and Suritcata

Arctictis binturong (Raffles 1822, up 90cm svl = a 75cm tail) is the extant binturong, a viverrid close to the bear-dog, Amphicyon. A prehensile tail, as in Nandinia, is retained. The vomers separate the palatine extending far beyond the last tooth. Two or three molars are present.

Hunt RM Jr 2003. Intercontinental Migration of Large Mammalian Carnivores: Earliest Occurrence of the Old World Beardog Amphicyon (Carnivora, Amphicyonidae) in North America. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 279: 77–115.

Linnaeus C von 1758. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata.

Raffles TS 1822. XVII. Descriptive Catalogue of a Zoological Collection, made on account of the Honourable East India Company, in the Island of Sumatra and its Vicinity, under the Direction of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, Lieutenant-Governor of Fort Marlborough, with additional Notices illustrative of the Natural History of those Countries. The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. XIII: 239–274.

wiki/Procyon
wiki/Arctictis
wik/Oxyaena

Basal Mammalia

Monotremata

Basal Marsupialia

Akynodonta

Orcinus