Barbourofelis

Barbourofelis Temporal range: Late Miocene
B. loveorum , Florida Museum of Natural History Fossil Hall at the University of Florida
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	†Barbourofelidae
Genus:	†Barbourofelis Schultz, Schultz & Martin, 1970
Species
†B. fricki †B. loveorum †B. morrisi †B. osborni †B. piveteaui †B. vallensiensis †B. whitfordi

Barbourofelis is an extinct genus of large, mostly carnivorous, mammals of the family Barbourofelidae (false saber-tooth cats). The genus was endemic to North America during the Miocene, living from 13.6—5.3 Ma and existing for approximately 8.3 million years. ^[1]

Taxonomy

Barbourofelis was named by Schultz and et al. (1970). Its type is Barbourofelis fricki and is the type genus of Barbourofelinae. It was assigned to Hoplophoneinae by Flynn and Galiano (1982); to Barbourofelinae by Bryant (1991); and to Nimravidae by Schultz and et al. (1970) and Martin (1998).

Morphology

A single specimen was examined by Legendre and Roth for body mass. The first specimen was estimated to weigh 66.4 kg (150 lb).^[2]

Thought to be lion-sized, it had the longest canines of all barbourofelids. It had a very robust constitution; the largest individuals of B. fricki are thought to have weighed up to 380 kg (829 lbs).^[3] They had very prominent flanges on the lower jaws and an unusually shaped skull. The barbourofelids were probably very muscular, resembling a bear-like lion or lion-like bear. Although the nimravid family did evolve into cat-like forms, they left no descendents among modern cats.

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  Barbourofelis fricki' skull

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  Barbourofelis fricki reconctruction

References