30 million-year-old dog fossil discovered in America

A fossil that spent years hidden away in a museum collection in the US has been identified as one of the most complete ancient dog fossils ever found in North America.

The 30 million-year-old discovery belonged to a type of early dog called Mesocyon coryphaeus, which lived long before the Ice Age.

It was originally found in the 1980s, but scientists first thought it belonged to a different group of animals, which included early relatives of sheep, camels and pigs.

Experts say the fossil could help them better understand how early dogs lived and evolved over millions of years.

The discovery came from a fossil found in the US state of Oregon in the late 1980s.

Experts at the University of Michigan decided to take a closer look at the find, which had been sitting in a local museum collection for decades.

The fossil was almost complete, with only parts of the tail, hands and feet missing.

Before this, the species had only been identified from single skulls, making the new discovery especially important.

Dogs are thought to have first appeared in North America around 40 million years ago.

Researchers believe Mesocyon coryphaeus lived about 10 million years later, during a time when thick forests were turning into more open woodland.

According to the team, the ancient dog had shorter, stronger bones than modern dogs, meaning it was better suited to climbing than running.

The fossil also showed that Mesocyon still had a big toe, suggesting it sometimes walked on its heels instead of just on its toes - and probably moved around differently from modern dogs too.

Experts believe the fossil shows that there were once many different types of dogs that no longer exist today.

They added that the discovery could help them better understand how early canines evolved over millions of years.