Cryptozoologists suggest the Native American folklore can be explained by prehistoric mammals such as hyaenodons, dire wolves, members of the subfamily Borophaginae (hyena-like dogs), or Chasmaporthetes (the only true American hyena).
Phlaocyon mariae is an extinct species of the genus Phlaocyon, belonging to the subfamily Borophaginae and tribe Phlaocyonini, a canid which inhabited central western North America from the Miocene living 20.6—16.3 Ma.