Phoberocyon is a large extinct genus of carnivorous Ursidae, subfamily Hemicyonidae

Hemicyonidae

Hemicyonidae is an extinct family of so-called "dog-bears", literally "Half Dog" , bear-like carnivoran living in Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia during the Oligocene through Miocene epochs 33.9—5.3 Ma, existing for approximately ....

, endemic to what would be North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 during the Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

 living from 20.6—16.3 mya, existing for approximately .

Taxonomy

Phoberocyon was named by Ginsburg (1955). It was assigned to Ursidae by Ginsburg (1955) and Carroll (1988); and to Hemicyoninae

Hemicyoninae

Hemicyoninae is an extinct subfamily of bear-like mammals of the family Ursidae endemic to North America and Europe during Oligocene through Miocene, living from ~33.9—7.2 Ma, existing for approximately ....

 by Hunt (1998).

Morphology

Two specimens were examined by Legendre and Roth for body mass.

• Specimen 1: 83 kg (183 lb).
• Specimen 2: 689.3 kg (1,519.6 lb).

Fossil distribution

• Thomas Farm Site
  Thomas Farm Site
  The Thomas Farm site is an Early Miocene, Hemingfordian assemblage of vertebrate fossils located in Gilchrist County, northern Florida.The Thomas Farm site is one of the richest terrestrial deposits of Miocene vertebrates in the 18 Ma range found in eastern North America according to the Florida...
  
  , Alachua Formation, Gilchrist County, Florida
  Gilchrist County, Florida
  Gilchrist County is a rural county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2000, the population was 14,437. The U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county is 16,402. Gilchrist County has only one traffic light in the entire county and has no road with more than one lane of traffic...
  
   Phoberocyon johnhenryi ~20.6—16.3 Ma. This is the only known specimen.

Species

• Phoberocyon hispanicus Ginsburg 7 Morales, 1998
• Phoberocyon dehmi (Ginsburg, 1955)
• Phoberocyon aurelianensis (Mayet, 1908)
• Phoberocyon youngi
• Phoberocyon johnhenryi (White, 1947)
• Phoberocyon huerzeleri Ginsburg, 1955