Borophagini is a clade

Clade

A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

 or tribe of the subfamily Borophaginae

Borophaginae

The subfamily Borophaginae is an extinct group of canids called "bone crushing dogs" that were endemic to North America during the Oligocene to Pliocene and lived roughly 36—2.5 million years ago and existing for approximately .-Origin:...

. This is an extinct group of terrestrial

Terrestrial animal

Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

 canids that were endemic and widespread throughout 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...

 and Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

 which lived during the Geringian

Geringian

The Geringian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology , typically set from 30,800,000 to 26,300,000 years BP, a period of . It is usually considered to fall within the Oligocene epoch...

 stage of the Oligocene

Oligocene

The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...

 epoch to the Zanclean

Zanclean

The Zanclean is the lowest stage or earliest age on the geologic time scale of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 5.332 and 3.6 Ma ± 0.005 Ma . It is preceded by the Messinian age of the Miocene epoch, and followed by the Piacenzian age....

 age of the Early Pliocene living 30.8—3.6 Mya existing approximately .

About

Borophagini were a short-faced, heavy-jawed canine usually massive in size. They were primarily carnivore

Carnivore

A carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...

s but dentition

Dentition

Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age...

 demonstrates omnivore

Omnivore

Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source...

 traits. These animals were actively mobile. Reproduction was viviparous

Vivipary

Vivipary has two different meanings. In animals, it means development of the embryo inside the body of the mother, eventually leading to live birth, as opposed to laying eggs...

Taxonomy

Borophagini was named by Simpson (1945) [credited to Simpson because he named Borophaginae]. It was assigned to Borophaginae by Wang et al. (1999) and Wang et al. (2004).

Clade

The clade includes: Cormocyon

Cormocyon

Cormocyon is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae and a terrestrial canine which inhabited most of North America during the Geringian stage of the Paleogene through Harrisonian stage of the Oligocene epoch living 30.8—20.6 Mya, existing for about ....

, Desmocyon

Desmocyon

Desmocyon is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae and a terrestrial canine which inhabited most of North America during the Harrisonian stage of the Late Oligocene through Early Hemingfordian stage of the Early Miocene epoch living 24.8—16.3 Mya existing for approximately .-Fossil record:It is a...

, Metatomarctus

Metatomarctus

Metatomarctus is an extinct genus of Borophaginae and a terrestrial canine which inhabited most of North America during the Early Hemingfordian stage of the Miocene epoch living 23.0—5.3 Mya, existing for approximately -Taxonomy:...

, Euoplocyon

Euoplocyon

Euoplocyon is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae and a small terrestrial canine which inhabited most of North America during the Hemingfordian stage of the Early Miocene subepoch through the Barstovian stage of the Middle Miocene subepoch living 20.6—13.6 Mya, existing for about...

, Psalidocyon

Psalidocyon

Psalidocyon is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae and a small terrestrial canine which inhabited most of North America during the Hemingfordian stage of the Early Miocene subepoch through the Barstovian stage of the Middle Miocene subepoch 20.6—13.6 Ma, existing for about ..-Morphology:Fossil...

, Microtomarctus

Microtomarctus

Microtomarctus is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae and a small terrestrial canine which inhabited most of North America during the Whitneyan stage of the Early Miocene subepoch through the Barstovian stage of the Middle Miocene subepoch.Microtomarctus existed for approximately .Like other...

, Protomarctus

Protomarctus

Protomarctus is an extinct member of the Borophaginae and a small terrestrial canine which inhabited most of North America during the Burdigalian stage of the Miocene epoch 20.4—15.9 Mya, existing for approximately .-Taxonomy:...

, and Tephrocyon

Tephrocyon

Tephrocyon is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae and a small to medium sized terrestrial canine which inhabited most of North America during the Barstovian stage of the Middle Miocene 16.3—13.6 Ma, existing for approximately .-Morphology:...

.

Subtaxa and sister taxa

The subtaxa or subtribes are: Aelurodontina, Borophagina

Borophagina

Borophagina is a hypocarnivorous subfamily or clade of Borophaginae, a group of terrestrial canines which inhabited most of North America during the Hemingfordian stage of the Early Miocene subepoch to the Zanclean stage of the Pliocene epoch 20.6—3.6 Mya existing approximately...

, and Cynarctina

Cynarctina

Cynarctina is an extinct hypocarnivorous canine sub-tribe clade of Borophaginae . Cynarctina lived during the Hemingfordian stage of Early Miocene through Clarendonian stage of the Middle Miocene 20.6—10.3 Ma, existing for approximately ....

. Phlaocyonini

Phlaocyonini

Phlaocyonini † is a hypocarnivorous clade or tribe of Borophaginae. This is an extinct group of canids that were endemic to North America and which lived during the Oligocene epoch to the Miocene living ~33.3–5.3 Ma, existing for approximately . PhlaocyoniniThe clade includes Cynarctoides and...

is the sister taxa.

Fossil distribution

With the clade comprising many genus and subtaxa, the distribution of fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 specimens for Borophagini is widespread throughout the entire continent extending from coast to coast as well as Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 to western Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 to the Panama Isthmus.