Adelphailurus
Adelphailurus is an extinct genus of saber-toothed cats of the family Felidae and tribe Metailurini[1] which inhabited western North America during the Miocene, living from 10.3—5.33 Ma and existing for approximately 4.97 million years . [2]
Adelphailurus | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | Felidae |
Subfamily: | †Machairodontinae |
Tribe: | †Metailurini |
Genus: | †Adelphailurus Hibbard, 1934 |
Species | |
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Range of Adrlphailurus based on fossil record |
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).[3][4][5]
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 Adelphailurus had a retained upper second premolar, which is unusual for a cat.
References
- Turner, Alan; Antón, Mauricio (1997). The Big Cats and their fossil relatives. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10228-3.
- Paleobiology Database: Adelphailurus, Basic info.
- C. W. Hibbard. 1934. Two new genera of Felidae from the middle Pliocene of Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 37:239-255
- R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company
- 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