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| Paludocyon moyasolai Morales, Abella, Valenciano, Gamarra, Robles, Gregori, Alba & Casanovas-Vilar, 2026 |
Abstract
The early Middle Miocene (15.9 Ma) site of els Casots (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain) has yielded a rich vertebrate assemblage, including abundant carnivoran remains that mostly remain unpublished. Here we describe a new species of the amphicyonid genus Paludocyon based on a compressed cranium with well-preserved teeth and an isolated lower molar (m2) from els Casots. Paludocyon moyasolai sp. nov., included in the subfamily Amphicyoninae, is characterized by a notably enlarged M2, which is buccolingually broader than the M1, and by a the relatively large size of the M3, both traits being absent in other species of Paludocyon. A phylogenetic analysis, conducted on European and North American species assigned to Cynelos and Paludocyon, indicates that Cynelos is paraphyletic but supports the monophyly of Paludocyon, with the new species being recovered as its basal-most member.
Keywords: Amphicyoninae, Europe, Iberian Peninsula, Paleobiogeography, Phylogeny
Systematic Paleontology
Order Carnivora Bowdich, 1821
Family Amphicyonidae Trouessart, 1885
Subfamily Amphicyoninae Trouessart, 1885
Tribe Amphicyonini Trouessart, 1885
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| Paludocyon moyasolai sp. nov. from els Casots. a–f. Cranium, IPS10156, holotype: a. lateral left view; b. ventral part; c. left P4–M3 (stereo pair) in occlusal view; d. right P2 in lingual view and the left P3–M2 in buccal view; e. isolated right M1 in occlusal view; f. isolated right M2 in occlusal view. g–i. Left m2, IPS11438, paratype, stereo pairs in occlusal (g), buccal (h), and lingual (i) views. All specimens are depicted to the same scale except scale bars in a equal 10 cm, scale bar in b-i equal 5 cm |
Paludocyon moyasolai sp. nov.
Type locality: els Casots, Catalonia, Spain.
Age and distribution: Aragonian subzone Cb (MN5), earliest Middle Miocene (~ 15.9 Ma), only known from the type locality.
Diagnosis: Medium-sized species of Paludocyon; P4 with reduced protocone; robust M1 with lingual platform reduced; M2 buccolingually broader than M1, with metacone smaller than paracone; M3 large and with well-defined trigone cuspids; m2 with a robust trigonid, protoconid and metaconid almost of the same height, protoconid with a weak basal buccal widening, short talonid of similar width as the trigonid, and large hypoconid occupying the buccal area of the talonid basin.
Etymology: Species epithet dedicated to Salvador Moyà-Solà, in recognition of his wonderful contribution to the development of European paleomastology (see review in Alba 2025).
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| Paludocyon moyasolai sp. nov. from els Casots, Spain. Reconstructed life appearance of the head and neck (illustration by Jesús Gamarra) |
Jorge Morales, Juan Abella, Alberto Valenciano, Jesús Gamarra, Josep M. Robles, Maria Gregori, David M. Alba and Isaac Casanovas-Vilar. 2026. A New Species of Paludocyon (Carnivora: Amphicyonidae) from the early Middle Miocene of els Casots (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Barcelona, Spain). Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 33, 29. DOI: doi.org/10.1007/s10914-026-09814-6 [06 June 2026]