New Fossil Giant Panda Relatives (Ailuropodinae, Ursidae): A Basal Lineage of Gigantic Mio-Pliocene Cursorial Carnivores
Author
Jiangzuo, Qigao
Author
Flynn, John J.
Author
Wang, Shiqi
Author
Hou, Sukuan
Author
Deng, Tao
text
American Museum Novitates
2023
2023-03-14
2023
3996
1
72
https://bioone.org/journals/american-museum-novitates/volume-2023/issue-3996/3996.1/New-Fossil-Giant-Panda-Relatives-Ailuropodinae-Ursidae--A-Basal/10.1206/3996.1.full
journal article
10.1206/3996.1
0003-0082
8006209
Huracan
,
gen. nov.
ETYMOLOGY: Name after Hunraqan or Hurakan (
Huracan
in Carib [Karìna auran] or English,
Huracán
in Spanish), the Maya and Taíno god of wind and storm; in reference to the cursorial running adaptation and formidable power of the animal. Grammatically, this is the masculine gender in Spanish.
TYPE
SPECIES
:
Agriotherium schneideri
Sellards, 1916
.
INCLUDED
SPECIES
:
Huracan schneideri
(Sellards, 1916)
and
Huracan coffeyi
(
Dalquest, 1986
)
from North America;
Huracan qiui
,
sp. nov.
, and
Huracan
sp.
(Yushe Basin) from
East Asia
;
Huracan roblesi
from Europe; and questionably?“
Huracan
”
punjabiensis
(
Lydekker, 1884
)
from South Asia.
DIAGNOSIS: Large to huge ailuropodine bear, moderately hypercarnivorous in dental features, and exhibiting substantial sexual dimorphism. Cranial condylobasal length
380–515 mm
. Mandible often with premasseteric fossa. I1/I2 with large posterocentral accessory cusp and reduced posterolateral cusp; I3 and canines large and robust; anterior premolars (P1–3/p1–3) present, occasionally lost in numbers in
Huracan schneideri
,
H. roblesi
, and
Huracan coffeyi
; P4 with large parastyle and variably (intraspecifically) subdivided hypocone; M1 slightly trapezoidal in shape; M2 equals M
1 in
length, each with slightly developed talon; p4 with distinct anterior and posterior cingulid cusps, but lacks medial ridge; and m1 with elongate paraconid, and distinct metaconid and mesoconid.
DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS:
Huracan
differs from
Indarctos
, a paraphyletic assemblage of more basal taxa representing the nearest outgroups to a clade of the new genus plus
Agriotherium
, by having generally larger size (except
I. oregonensis
of similar size), upper I1/I2 with large posterocentral accessory cusp, P4 with larger parastyle, M2 with distinctly shorter talon, p4 with stronger anterior and posterior cingulid cuspids, m1 with more elongated paraconid, and presence of mandibular premasseteric fossa;
Huracan
differs from
Agriotherium
, its sister group, by generally larger size, and with upper I1/I2 with large posterocentral accessory cusp, P4 with more frequently subdivided hypocone, M1 more elongated, M2 with generally longer talon, p4 often without distinct medial ridge, and m1 with presence of large metaconid and two smaller entoconids.