A hypocarnivore is an animal that consumes less than 30% meat for its diet, the majority of which consists of nonvertebrate

Vertebrate

Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...

 foods that may include fungi, fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

s, and other plant material. Examples of the seven living hypocarnivores are the Black bear

American black bear

The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...

 (Ursus americanus), Binturong

Binturong

The Binturong , also known as the Asian Bearcat, the Palawan Bearcat, or simply the Bearcat, is a species of the family Viverridae, which includes the civets and genets. It is the only member of its genus...

 (Arctictis binturong) and Raccoon

Raccoon

Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...

 (Procyon lotor).

The division of 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...

 into three subdivisions including hypercarnivore

Hypercarnivore

A hypercarnivore is an animal which has a diet that is more than 70% meat, with the balance consisting of non-animal foods such as fungi, fruits or other plant material. Some examples include the big cats, dolphins, eagles, snakes, marlin, most sharks, and such invertebrates as octopuses and sea...

 and mesocarnivore

Mesocarnivore

A mesocarnivore is an animal whose diet consists of 50–70% meat with the balance consisting of nonvertebrate foods which may include fungi, fruits, and other plant material...

, appears to have occurred about 40 mya. It is used with increasing frequency in describing early canidae

Canidae

Canidae is the biological family of carnivorous and omnivorous mammals that includes wolves, foxes, jackals, coyotes, and domestic dogs. A member of this family is called a canid . The Canidae family is divided into two tribes: Canini and Vulpini...

 evolution and has a documented history in 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...

n 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:...

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...

 (23.03 to 5.33 mya). According to Xiaoming Wang

Xiaoming Wang

Xiaoming Wang is a noted paleontologist and geologist born in People's Republic of China living in the United States.-Area of expertise:Dr. Wang specializes in the fossil evolution, systematics, and phylogeny of mammals of the Cenozoic...

, some 25 species of hypocarnivore co-occurred on the North American continent 30 million years ago. A shift from hyper to hypo occurred at least three times among 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...

 and Miocene canids Oxetocyon

Oxetocyon

Oxetocyon is an extinct genus of the subfamily Borophaginae and a terrestrial canine which inhabited North America during the Whitneyan stage — of the Oligocene epoch...

, Phlaocyon

Phlaocyon

Phlaocyon is an extinct genus of the Borophaginae and a terrestrial canine which inhabited most of North America during the Whitneyan stage of the Early Oligocene through Late Hemingfordian stage of the Early Miocene epoch 33.3—16.3 Mya existing for approximately .-Taxonomy:Phlaocyon was about in...

, and Cynarctus

Cynarctus

Cynarctus is an extinct canid of the subfamily Borophaginae which inhabited most of North America during the Late Miocene subepoch . Cynarctus existed for approximately .-Taxonomy:...

.

Large hypocarnivore (Ursus) were rare and developed in the mid to late Miocene-Pliocene

Pliocene

The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...

 as Borophanginae became extinct.

Dentition

Examination of dentition shows that postcarnassial

Carnassial

Carnassials are large teeth found in many carnivorous mammals, used for shearing flesh and bone in a scissor- or shear-like way. In the Carnivora, the carnassials are the modified last upper premolar and the first molar, but in the prehistoric creodonts, the carnassials were further back in the...

 molar volume expands with hypocarnivores while decreasing in hypercarnivores. Prohesperocyon

Prohesperocyon

Prohesperocyon " is an extinct genus of physically small terrestrial carnivores of the family Miacidae endemic to North America appearing during the Late Eocene around 36.6—36.5 mya . The time of extinction is unknown....

(38 mya—33.9 mya) displayed a shift in relative proportion between slicing and grinding functions indicative of a dietary shift away from vertebrate

Vertebrate

Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...

foods to one including fruits.