Cynodictis

noun

Cyn·​o·​dic·​tis

: a genus of extinct carnivores from the Eocene and Oligocene of Europe that were long-bodied short-legged creatures resembling weasels with retractile claws and presumably ancestral to dogs, foxes, and related forms

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from cyn- + -dictis (from Greek diktys, an unknown Libyan animal mentioned by Herodotus)

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