Trigonictis macrodon

Trigonictis macrodon is an extinct species of mammal related to the living grison (genus Galictis). It lived in North America during the Pliocene to Pleistocene epochs, from ~4.1–1.6 Ma. (AEO),^[1] existing for approximately 2.5 million years. Fossil specimens have been found across the United States, from Washington and Oregon in the northwest to California and Florida in the south.^[2]

Trigonictis macrodon Temporal range: Pliocene–Pleistocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Caniformia
Family:	Mustelidae
Genus:	†Trigonictis
Species:	†T. macrodon
Binomial name
†Trigonictis macrodon Cope, 1868

Morphology and diet

Trigonictis is most closely related to the modern neotropical galictines, Sminthosinis and possibly Canimartes.^[3] According to Kurtén and Anderson, Trigonictis macrodon was about the size of the modern fisher, quickly moving and very capable of swimming. It was closely related to a group of galictine mustelids and reached the New World in the Middle Pliocene. Its diet was probably the rabbit Hypolagus, ground squirrels, and young beavers.^[4]