Though not the most massive borophagine by size or weight, it had a more highly evolved capacity to crunch bone than earlier, larger genera such as Epicyon, which seems to be an evolutionary trend of the group (Turner, 2004).

[1] Typical features of this genus are a bulging forehead and powerful jaws; Borophagus has been considered to be probably a scavenger by paleontologists in the past.

[3] Coprolites from Borophagus further vindicate its bone-crushing abilities, while simultaneously indicating it occupied a niche no longer seen in the present-day ecosystems of North America.

[1] In North America, in places such as Coffee Ranch in Texas, Borophagus was contemporary with the bear Agriotherium as well as the feliform Barbourofelis, the saber-toothed machairodont cat Amphimachairodus coloradensis and fellow canid Epicyon.

Prey for Borophagus included herbivores like the camel Aepycamelus, the pronghorn antelope Cosoryx, horses like Neohipparion and Nannippus, the ancient peccary Prosthennops and even rhinoceroses like the hippo-like Teleoceras, all of which could provide a suitable meal through hunting or scavenging.