Follow named teeth, skulls, skeletons, sequence matrices and digital experiments without converting separate branches into an ancestor ladder.
Each step names its evidence claims, with references below. Interactive Explorer states are available in the full application; the narrative remains an editorial synthesis.
IRSNB M2095–M2099 document reconstructed permanent dentition, while astragali IRSNB M2107–M2108 and calcaneum IRSNB M2109 document the tarsus.
Dormaalocyon is recovered as a basal carnivoraform in the published character matrix; it is not demonstrated to be crown Carnivora, a direct ancestor or the global first carnivoramorphan.
claim:event:dormaalocyon-dental-tarsal-sampleThe matrix samples 99 cranial and dental characters across 40 terminals and excludes traditional “Miacidae” and Viverravidae from crown Carnivora in the preferred trees.
This result rejects a convenient feliform–caniform ancestor ladder but remains a sampled morphology topology whose nodes can change with scoring, taxon sampling and analytical assumptions.
claim:event:miacoidea-character-matrix-topologyHolotype UCMP 85202 supplies the cranium and dentition; associated paratypes SDSNH 107446 and SDSNH 107447 add postcranial anatomy.
Basal-caniform placement is an analytical result and familial assignment remains indeterminate; dietary discriminant scores are comparative-model outputs, not stomach contents or observed hunting.
claim:event:lycophocyon-holotype-basal-caniformThe concatenated matrix contains 6,243 base pairs from TR-i-I, TBG, IRBP, ND2, CYTB and 12S rRNA for 76 sampled species.
This is a 2005 sequence topology for sampled living taxa; it neither observes fossil anatomy nor fixes fossil first appearances, divergence dates or COL26.8 accepted names.
claim:event:carnivora-six-gene-living-topologyThe holotype cranium of Gustafsonia cognita, TMM 40209-200, was CT-reconstructed; Angelarctocyon australis is represented by TMM 41850-1 and referred jaw material.
The new genera and basal-amphicyonid positions follow revised scoring and sampled trees; they do not locate an exact geographic origin for beardogs or establish direct ancestry.
claim:event:texas-basal-amphicyonid-reappraisalHolotype B-4071 is a complete young-adult skull; the 2026 analysis compares intrinsic canine, p4 and m1 bites and extrinsic pull-back and head-shaking loads, with meshes and scripts deposited on Zenodo.
Stress fields, relative bite forces and behavioural scenarios depend on segmentation, material properties, muscle reconstruction, constraints and normalization; they are experiments on models, not observed feeding.
claim:event:magericyon-feeding-feaHolotype MNCN-CSIC NV-2-42 is a left P4; NV-2-40 is a right M1, and IPS 46473 is a partial mandible with c1–m2 and associated P4.
Ailuropodine placement and herbivorous tendency derive from a character matrix and dental comparison; neither demonstrates identical giant-panda ecology nor a direct ancestor or secure centre of origin.
claim:event:kretzoiarctos-dental-panda-topologyUCMP and SDSNH material is reported from member C of the Santiago Formation in San Diego County; the map shows named study localities rather than a continental range.
The displayed interval is a source-bounded occurrence window, not a global first or last appearance.
claim:taxon:lycophocyon:biogeography · claim:taxon:lycophocyon:fossil-rangeThe 50-taxon analysis leaves nearby relationships unresolved, whereas the Paleogene-only consensus places Lycophocyon on the caniform branch outside crown Canoidea.
Both results are sampled morphology hypotheses; neither is an ancestor ladder.
claim:taxon:lycophocyon:taxonomyA six-variable classifier assigned the holotype 83% posterior probability of carnivory, against 46 carnivores, 21 omnivores/hard-object feeders and 15 insectivores in the reference set.
This is a comparative dietary prediction, not a fossil stomach-content record.
claim:taxon:lycophocyon:ecologyNombrevilla 2 supplies the P4 holotype and M1 paratype, while ACM/C6-Camí supplies the partial mandible and associated P4.
These occurrence points do not determine a panda-lineage origin centre or a global genus range.
claim:taxon:kretzoiarctos:biogeography · claim:taxon:kretzoiarctos:fossil-rangeThe fossil-plus-living matrix recovers Kretzoiarctos within Ailuropodinae, but its majority-rule bootstrap does not resolve internal ailuropodine clades.
The route compares a published morphology result; it is not a direct-ancestor claim or an ecological equivalence with living giant pandas.
claim:taxon:kretzoiarctos:taxonomyFigure 1 documents the left P4 NV-2-42, right M1 NV-2-40 and IPS 46473 partial mandible; the route compares the preserved specimen record before any dietary interpretation.
Dental comparisons can inform a hypothesis, but do not observe feeding or establish giant-panda-equivalent ecology.
claim:taxon:kretzoiarctos:morphology · claim:taxon:kretzoiarctos:ecologyFinite-element comparisons test canine, p4 and m1 bite positions plus standardized external loading; reported stress and force patterns are simulated under stated constraints.
The zero time range is the 2026 modelling event, not Magericyon's fossil occurrence; muscle reconstruction and loading choices condition the results.
claim:event:magericyon-feeding-feaHolotype IVPP V18788.1 is an adult partial cranium; IVPP V18788.2 is a ramus fragment and IVPP V18788.3 a partial premaxilla. The locality sample spans 5.95–4.10 Ma in the original magnetostratigraphic framework.
The original Panthera assignment, snow-leopard affinity and Asian biogeographic scenario are analytical conclusions that later work may revise; the sample is not a universal pantherine FAD.
claim:event:panthera-blytheae-holotype-total-evidenceThe 36-specimen sample includes Field Museum Hesperocyon gregarius and Aelurodon skulls, segmented as left bony labyrinths and compared by PCA, CVA and MANOVA.
The reported 82.05% classification and pounce assignment are proxy-model results conditioned on living categories, scaling and phylogeny; they do not preserve an actual hunt or social behaviour.
claim:event:hesperocyon-bony-labyrinth-modelHolotype NUFV 405 preserves roughly 65% of one skeleton, including skull, dentition, vertebrae and substantial fore- and hind limbs from an early Miocene lake deposit.
Semi-aquatic locomotion, pinnipedimorph position and an Arctic freshwater transition are morphology, topology and palaeoenvironmental interpretations; Puijila is not demonstrated as a direct pinniped ancestor.
claim:event:puijila-holotype-locomotor-mosaicLACM 4321 preserves a skull and much of the postcranial skeleton, allowing measured limb proportions and joint morphology to be compared with living pinnipeds and terrestrial carnivorans.
COL26.8 routes 310 accepted living species names through Carnivora. This is nomenclatural coverage, not eleven ancestor stages, 310 mature dossiers, a fossil FAD, or agreement among topology and clock models.
claim:event:enaliarctos-skeleton-swimming-model