Nimravides

Nimravides
Temporal range: Middle Miocene–Late Miocene
Nimravides catacopis skull
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Superfamily: Feloidea
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: †Machairodontinae
Tribe: †Homotherini
Genus: †Nimravides
Kitts 1958
Species

†Nimravides catacopsis (Cope, 1887)
†Nimravides pedionomus (MacDonald, 1948)
†Nimravides hibbardi (Dalquest, 1969)
†Nimravides galiani Baskin, 1981
†Nimravides thinobates (MacDonald, 1948) (type)

Nimravides is a genus of extinct saber-toothed felids that lived in North America during the middle and late Miocene, between 13.6 and 4.9 Ma.[1] Despite its scientific name, Nimravides does not belong to the Nimravidae, but is a true felid, belonging to the family Felidae.[2] Nimravides catacopsis, one of the largest and latest species, was quite large, measuring 100 cm (1.0 m) at the shoulder and was similar in size to a large tiger. It was also possessed of long, powerful legs and a long back. For many decades, it was also believed to be a member of the genus Machairodus, but, despite the similarities between them at first glance, based on autapomorphies in the skeleton, the two animals are too different to be classified as species of the same genus, and thus, Nimravides remains separate as its own genus within the Homotherini.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Paleobiology Database: Nimravides
  2. ↑ Larry D.Martin: Felidae in Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America, Volume 1: Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, Ungulatelike Mammals, Cambridge University Press, 1998
  3. ↑ Antón, Mauricio (2013). Sabertooth. Bloomington, Indiana: University of Indiana Press. p. 123. ISBN 9780253010421.
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