About 12 million years ago a new species of ancient “bone Crushing” dog roamed in North America says, scientists. They named this new species as Cynarctus Wangi which is a member of extinct subfamily Borophaginae, commonly known as bone crushing dogs because of their Jaws and broad teeth.
“In this respect they are believed to have behaved in a similar way to hyenas today,” said Steven E Jasinski, a student at the University of Pennsylvania in the US.
“Most fossils known from this time period represent marine animals, who become fossilised more easily than animals on land. It is quite rare we find fossils from land animals in this region during this time, but each one provides important information about what life was like then,” he said.
Fossils from particular regions of terrestrial species and time period are almost rare and help paleontologists fill in important species which are missing.
“It looks like it might be a distant relative descended from the previously known borophene,” Jasinski said.
The researchers at first presumed the specimen which is known as Borophagine dog, a species called Maryland ca refer as Cynarctus a fossil which is found in older sediment and belong to the same area. Finally, when the features are compared to occlusal surfaces top and bottom teeth meet. Which sometimes seen in specimens with notable differences.
“Based on its teeth, probably only about a third of its diet would have been meat,” Jasinski said.
“It would have supplemented that by eating plants or insects, living more like a mini-bear than like a dog,” he said.