Metailurus

Metailurus is a genus of saber-toothed cat in the family Felidae, and belonging to the tribe Metailurini, which occurred in North America, Eurasia and Africa from the Miocene to the Middle Pleistocene.[1][2][3] This genus was formally described by O. Zdansky in 1924.[4] Metailurus minor has been reassigned to the felid genus Yoshi.[5]

Metailurus
Temporal range: Miocene–Pleistocene
Metailurus skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: †Machairodontinae
Tribe: †Metailurini
Genus: †Metailurus
Zdansky, 1924
Species
  • †M. boodon
  • †M. major Zdansky, 1924
  • †M. mongoliensis Colbert, 1939
  • †M. ultimus Li, 2014
Range of Metailurus based on fossil record

Description

The canines of Metailurus are longer than those of even the clouded leopard, but significantly shorter than true saber teeth, and more conical than bladed.[6] A partial skeleton found in the Turolian site of Kerassia 1 consists of the jawbone, the anterior and posterior limb bone elements, and some sternal bones and some vertebrae. This is the most complete known of the species. Its dental material is comparative to those specimens from Pikerm, Chomateri, and China. The presence of elongated posterior limbs indicate that it had developed jumping skills.[7]

References
  1. McKenna, M. C.; Bell, S. K. (1997). Classification of Mammals: Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press. p. 631. ISBN 978-0-231-11013-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. "Fossilworks: Metailurus". fossilworks.org. Retrieved 2016-04-22.
  3. Antón, Mauricio (2013-11-22). Sabertooth. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253010490.
  4. Zdansky, O. (1924). Jungtertiare Carnivoren Chinas, Palaeont. Sinica C2 (1) (1924), 1-149.
  5. Nikolai Spassov; Denis Geraads (2015). "A New Felid from the Late Miocene of the Balkans and the Contents of the Genus Metailurus Zdansky, 1924 (Carnivora, Felidae)". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 22 (1): 45–56. doi:10.1007/s10914-014-9266-5.
  6. Turner, Alan; Antón, Mauricio (1997). The Big Cats and their fossil relatives. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10228-3.
  7. Roussiakis, S. J., Theodorou, G. E., & Iliopoulos, G. (2006). An almost complete skeleton of Metailurus parvulus (Carnivora, Felidae) from the late Miocene of Kerassia (Northern Euboea, Greece). Geobios, 39(4), 563-584. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2005.04.002
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