Huracan Jiangzuo &amp; Flynn &amp; Wang &amp; Hou &amp; Deng 2023, gen. nov.
Creators: name: Jiangzuo, Qigao
name: Flynn, John J.
name: Wang, Shiqi
name: Hou, Sukuan
name: Deng, Tao
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Carnivora
Ursidae
Huracan

description: <i>Huracan</i>, gen. nov. ETYMOLOGY: Name after Hunraqan or Hurakan (<i>Huracan</i> in Carib [Karìna auran] or English, <i>Huracán</i> 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: <i>Agriotherium schneideri</i> Sellards, 1916. INCLUDED SPECIES: <i>Huracan schneideri</i> (Sellards, 1916) and <i>Huracan coffeyi</i> (Dalquest, 1986) from North America; <i>Huracan qiui</i>, sp. nov., and <i>Huracan</i> sp. (Yushe Basin) from East Asia; <i>Huracan roblesi</i> from Europe; and questionably?“ <i>Huracan</i> ” <i>punjabiensis</i> (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 <i>Huracan schneideri</i>, <i>H. roblesi</i>, and <i>Huracan coffeyi</i>; 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: <i>Huracan</i> differs from <i>Indarctos</i>, a paraphyletic assemblage of more basal taxa representing the nearest outgroups to a clade of the new genus plus <i>Agriotherium</i>, by having generally larger size (except <i>I. oregonensis</i> 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; <i>Huracan</i> differs from <i>Agriotherium</i>, 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.
description: Published as part of <i>Jiangzuo, Qigao, Flynn, John J., Wang, Shiqi, Hou, Sukuan &amp; Deng, Tao, 2023, New Fossil Giant Panda Relatives (Ailuropodinae, Ursidae): A Basal Lineage of Gigantic Mio-Pliocene Cursorial Carnivores, pp. 1-72 in American Museum Novitates 2023 (3996)</i> on page 8, DOI: 10.1206/3996.1, http://zenodo.org/record/8006209
description: {"references": ["Dalquest, W. W. 1986. Lower jaw and dentition of the Hemphillian bear, Agriotherium (Ursidae), with the description of a new species. Journal of Mammalogy 67: 623 - 631.", "Lydekker, R. 1884. Indian Tertiary and post-Tertiary vertebrata. Part VI. Siwalik and Narbada Carnivora. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India, Palaeontologia Indica (series 10) 2: 178 - 351."]}