matched with outline of Xenocyon lycaonoides'' (large)
Xenocyon is proposed as a subgenus of
Canis named
Canis (
Xenocyon). One
taxonomic authority proposes that as part of this subgenus, the group named
Canis (
Xenocyon) ex gr.
falconeri (ex gr. meaning "of the group including") would include all of the large hypercarnivorous canids that inhabited the
Old World during the Late Pliocene–Early Pleistocene:
Canis (
Xenocyon)
africanus in
Africa,
Canis (
Xenocyon)
antonii in
Asia and
Canis (
Xenocyon)
falconeri in
Europe. Further, these three could be regarded as extreme geographical variations within the one
taxon. This group was hypercarnivorous, had a large body size that is comparable with the northern populations of the modern
gray wolf (
Canis lupus) and are characterized by a short
neurocranium relative to their skull size. The ancestral condition for canids is to have five toes on their forelimbs, but by the
Early Pleistocene this lineage had reduced this to four, which is also a characteristic feature of the modern
African wild dog (
Lycaon pictus). The African wild dog cannot be positively identified in the
fossil record of eastern Africa until the middle Pleistocene, and identifying the oldest
Lycaon fossil is difficult because these are hard to distinguish from
Canis (
Xenocyon)
africanus. Some authors consider
Canis (
Xenocyon)
lycanoides as ancestral to the genera
Lycaon and
Cuon. Therefore, one taxonomic authority has proposed that all of the
Canis (
Xenocyon) group should be reclassified into the genus
Lycaon. This would form three
chronospecies:
Lycaon falconeri during the
Late Pliocene of Eurasia,
Lycaon lycaonoides during the Early Middle Pleistocene of Eurasia and Africa and
Lycaon pictus from the Middle Late Pleistocene to present. ==Species==