Amphicyon
Amphicyon ingens, in the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Amphicyon is an extinct genus of Amphicyonidae. She came in the Miocene epoch, North America, Eurasia and Africa.
Amphicyon united characteristics of bears, such as the broad paws, not retractable claws and characteristics of cats like the long flexible spine. Also, the long tail recalled cats. The skull was against stretched relatively long and doglike. Amphicyon was a massive predator and represented together with Ischyrocyon the largest land carnivore in North America during the middle and late Miocene. The fact that the animals fed on meat show the construction and scuff marks of the molar teeth. The huge animals united while morphological properties of a stalker with those of a Hetzjägers. Consequently, they seem their prey over long distances, but to have less quickly than today's persecuted stalker. Presumably, the prey was killed by bites to the chest and neck area.
The strong molars and the high sagittal crest, and was mainly used as the upper approach and abutment for the masticatory muscles, suggest that these robbers were able aufzubeißen big bones, much like today's hyenas. Nevertheless Amphicyon was probably not a pure scavengers. The physique of evidence that the animals similar to today's big cats stalking and actively hunted. The long tail served as Balancierorgan chases. One of the best known species of the genus was Amphicyon giganteus from the early Miocene. The males may reach a weight of over 300 kg, females weighed about 160 kg. Amphicyon giganteus is also detected from Arrisdrift in Namibia about 17 million years ago. In Europe Amphicyon giganteus was replaced in the middle Miocene of the very successful way Amphicyon major. Amphicyon major was 120 kg ( females ) to 220 kg ( males ) of body weight significantly smaller, but still reached the size of a modern lion. This type disappeared from about 10 million years ago in the late Miocene. Some lesser-known species such as Amphicyon grutmani ( Germany, Austria ) and Amphicyon pannonicus (Hungary ) survived into the latest Miocene ( Turolian ). They were more than 200 kg of body weight similar in size and probably also active hunters
Other types of European Miocene were Amphicyon longiramus and Amphicyon castellanus.