Cephalogale

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Cephalogale Fossil range: late Middle Oligocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Hemicyonidae Genus: Cephalogale Species: C. geoffroyi
Binomial name
Cephalogale geoffroyi Filhol, 1879

Cephalogale was a small bear-like carnivore the size of dog, or cat of the family Hemicyonidae. It lived in Europe, about 30 million years ago, in the Oligocene, the time when large mammalian carnivores and herbivores were ruling. Cephalogale was probably living in their shadows. Cephalogale was dog-like mammal that was closely related to the bears because its carnassials was bear-like, and it (or another close relative) may have given rise to bears, which began to appear in the Late Oligocene. Cephalogale's ancestors were the miacids, and one of the later branch of the miacids gave rise to the raccoon family, the Amphicyonidae - the bear-dogs, the Pinnipedimorphs - which was a seal/sea lion/walrus lineage, Mustelidae, and the primitive Ursoids - which included Cephalogale.

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