10 Terrifying Prehistoric Creatures We Should See In A Movie

The name epicyon translates to "more than a dog" and although that may sound pleasant at first - seeing as dogs are man's best friend - these massive beasts certainly would not have made good pets. The creature is a member of the subfamily Borophaginae which translates to "bone-crushing dogs" and were incredibly dangerous animals.

These extinct creatures are known to have existed for roughly 15 million years from the Hemingfordian stage of the early Miocene through to the Hemphillian of the late Miocene. They approximately grew to be about 5ft long and are estimated to have weighed between 91-136kg. This puts the dogs at an absurdly large size, that make them sound far more intimidating than even the most dangerous contemporary pit-bull.

In addition to their large stature, the Epicyon had a massive head and jaw that gave its skull more of a lion-shape as opposed to the traditional wolf-crown that is commonly seen in canids. This is why the creatures subtitle of "bone-crushing" certainly gains validity.

The idea of a pack - or even single - powerful canid predator would be a fascinating exploration into a family of animals that have never been seen on screen.

They would have viewers everywhere thinking twice before petting their dogs again.