Ischyrocyon stock image

A lone Ischyrocyon patrols a dry prairie at the foot of the Rockies aboutn 11 million years ago. Ischyrocyon was an amphicyonid, or bear-dog, an extinct family of carnivorous mammals that formed an early branch of the lineage including dogs and bears, as well as racoons, weasels, and seals among others.

Illustration by Julio Lacerda