Paramachairodus

Paramachairodus
Temporal range: Middle Miocene–Late Miocene
Conservation status
Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: †Machairodontinae
Genus: †Paramachairodus
Species
  • †Paramachairodus ogygia
  • †Paramachairodus orientalis

Paramachairodus is an extinct genus of saber-tooth cat of the subfamily Machairodontinae endemic to Europe and Asia, during the late Miocene from 15 to 9 Ma.[1]

Paramachairodus is one of the oldest known true saber-toothed cats. A large number of fossils were discovered in Cerro Batallones, a Late Miocene fossil site near Madrid, Spain. Two leopard-sized species are known, Paramachairodus ogygia from Vallesian to early Turolian age and Paramachairodus orientalis from the Turolian. A third species Paramachairodus maximiliani, is considered a synonym of Paramachairodus orientalis by most authors [2].

The animal was about 58 cm high at the shoulder, similar to a leopard, but with a more supple body. The shape of its limbs suggests that it may have been an agile climber, and could have hunted relatively large prey.[3]

References

  1. ^ Paleobiology Database: Paramachairodus Basic info.
  2. ^ MANUEL J. SALESA, MAURICIO ANTÓN, ALAN TURNER and JORGE MORALES: Aspects of the functional morphology in the cranial and cervical skeleton of the sabre-toothed cat Paramachairodus ogygia (Kaup, 1832) (Felidae, Machairodontinae) from the Late Miocene of Spain: implications for the origins of the machairodont killing bite. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Volume 144 Issue 3 Page 363-377, July 2005.
  3. ^ Turner, Alan (1997). The Big Cats and their fossil relatives. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-231-10228-3. 

External links