User:JaneStillman/Hemicyonidae


 * "Dog bear" redirects here; for amphicyonidae see "Bear dog".

Hemicyonidae, or Hemicyoninae, is an extinct group of bear-like carnivoran living in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia during the Oligocene through Miocene (ca. 22 epochs 33.9–5.3 Ma, existing for approximately . They are classified by different authors either as a separate family or as a subfamily of bears.

Etymology
The name "Hemicyonidae" comes from the Ancient Greek ἡμικύων hēmikúōn, meaning "half-dog". They should not be confused with amphicyonidae, another related group of extinct carnivorans whose name means "near dog".

Taxonomy
Hemicyoninae was named by Frick (1926) and was assigned to Ursidae by Qiu et al. (1991) and Hunt (1998).

Genus identification
...the oldest known being Cephalogale, which existed from ~33.9 to 20 Ma. In North America, specimens have been uncovered that date from ~21.6 to 21.2 Ma.