Avizo reconstruction of Bone-cracking Borophagus coprolite lacm:vp:158710

<p>Borophagine canids have long been hypothesized to be North American ecological&nbsp;&lsquo;avatars&rsquo; of living hyenas in Africa and Asia, but direct fossil evidence of hyena-like bone&nbsp;consumption is hitherto unknown. We report rare coprolites (fossilized feces) of Borophagus parvus&nbsp;from the late Miocene of California and, for the first time, describe unambiguous evidence that&nbsp;these predatory canids ingested large amounts of bone. Surface morphology, micro-CT analyses,&nbsp;and contextual information reveal (1) droppings in concentrations signifying scent-marking&nbsp;behavior, similar to latrines used by living social carnivorans; (2) routine consumption of skeletons;&nbsp;(3) undissolved bones inside coprolites indicating gastrointestinal similarity to modern striped and&nbsp;brown hyenas; (4) B. parvus body weight of ~24 kg, reaching sizes of obligatory large-prey hunters;&nbsp;and (5) prey size ranging ~35&ndash;100 kg. This combination of traits suggests that bone-crushing&nbsp;Borophagus potentially hunted in collaborative social groups and occupied a niche no longer&nbsp;present in North American ecosystems.</p>