Arctocyonidae (from Greek arktos kyôn, "bear/dog-like") is an extinct family of unspecialized, primitive mammals with more than 20 genera. The family was most abundant during the Paleocene, but extant from the late Cretaceous to the early Eocene (66 to 50 million years ago).These animals are thought to be the ancestors of the orders Mesonychia and Cetartiodactyla, although some morphological studies have suggested that Arctocyonidae is a 'wastebasket' group for basal ungulates, and is in fact, polyphyletic