Encyclopedia

Vulpavus

Extinct genus of carnivores

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors

1 min read
Source updated October 3, 2025

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Vulpavus ("ancestor of foxes") is an extinct paraphyletic genus of placental mammals from clade Carnivoraformes, that lived in North America from the early to middle Eocene.

01Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships of genus Vulpavus are shown in the following cladogram:

Carnivoramorpha

†Viverravidae

	†Viverravoidea

?	†Carnivoramorpha sp. (UALVP 50993 & UALVP 50994)

?	†Ravenictis

sensu lato

†Carnivoramorpha sp. (UALVP 31176)

†Carnivoramorpha sp. (USNM 538395)

†"Sinopa" insectivorus

Carnivoraformes

Clade "B"

	†Eogale

	†"Miacis" sp. (CM 67873 & CM 77299)

	†Gracilocyon igniculus

	†Gracilocyon winkleri

†Gracilocyon solei

†Gracilocyon

†Gracilocyon sp. (Jibou, Romania)

	†Gracilocyon rosei

	†Gracilocyon rundlei

†Paramiacis

†Paroodectes

†Oodectes jepseni

†Oodectes

†Oodectes herpestoides

†Oodectes proximus

†Oodectes pugnax

†Uintacyon hookeri

†Uintacyon rudis

†Uintacyon

	†Uintacyon massetericus

	†Uintacyon vorax

†Uintacyon asodes

†Uintacyon edax

	†Uintacyon acutus

	†Uintacyon jugulans

	†Uintacyon gingerichi

	†Xinyuictis

†Zodiocyon

	†Miocyon

	†Simamphicyon

	†Uintacyon sp. (USGS 1983)

	†Messelogale

	†Quercygalidae

Clade "C"

	†Palaearctonyx

(†Phlaodectes)	†Vulpavus ovatus

†Vulpavus profectus

	†Vulpavus australis

	†Vulpavus canavus

†Vulpavus completus

†Vulpavus

†Vulpavus farsonensis

†Vulpavus palustris

†Vassacyon

	†Dormaalocyon

	†"Miacis" exiguus

†"Miacis" deutschi

†Africtis

†Carnivoraformes undet. Genus B

†Dawsonicyon

†"Miacis" boqinghensis

†"Miacis" hookwayi

†"Miacis" latidens

†"Miacis" petilus

?	†Carnivoraformes undet. Genus A

	†Miacis

Clade "D"

	†Lycarion

	†"Miacis" hargeri

†Ceruttia

†"Miacis" invictus

†"Miacis" lushiensis

†Neovulpavus

	†Harpalodon

	†Procynodictis

†Prodaphaenus

†Walshius

	†"Miacis" gracilis

	†Tapocyon

	Carnivora (sensu stricto)

†Gracilocyon/Oodectes clade †Vulpavus clade

(Carnivora [sensu lato])

Watch videos about VulpavusExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Vulpavus”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons: