Adelphailurus

Adelphailurus
Temporal range: Middle Miocene–Late Miocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: †Machairodontinae
Tribe: †Metailurini
Genus: †Adelphailurus
Hibbard, 1934
Species

†Adelphailurus kansensis

Range of Adrlphailurus based on fossil record

Adelphailurus is an extinct genus of saber-toothed cats of the family Felidae and tribe Metailurini which inhabited western North America during the Miocene, living from 10.3—5.33 Ma and existing for approximately 4.97 million years. [1]

Taxonomy

Adelphailurus was named by Hibbard (1934). Its type is Adelphailurus kansensis. It was assigned to Felidae by Hibbard (1934) and Carroll (1988); and to Machairodontinae by Martin (1998).[2][3][4]

Morphology

It was a cougar-sized animal and may have had habits similar to those of a cougar. Its body had the same shape as a cougar except for a long and compressed upper canine. This would place this cat into the "false-sabertooth" group. Apart from that the Adelphailurus had a retained upper second premolar, which is unusual for a cat.

Body mass

Two specimens were examined by Legendre and Roth for body mass.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Paleobiology Database: Adelphailurus, Basic info.
  2. ↑ C. W. Hibbard. 1934. Two new genera of Felidae from the middle Pliocene of Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Sciences 37:239-255
  3. ↑ R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company
  4. ↑ L. D. Martin. 1998. Felidae. Evolution of Tertiary mammals of North America (eds. C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs) 1:236-242
  5. ↑ S. Legendre and C. Roth. 1988. Correlation of carnassial tooth size and body weight in recent carnivores (Mammalia). Historical Biology 1(1):85-98

Turner, A and Mauricio Anton. Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives 1997. Columbia University Press. New York.

External links

Wikispecies has information related to: Adelphailurus
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