Ballusia Temporal range: | |
---|---|
Life restoration of B. orientalis | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Ursidae |
Genus: | † Ballusia Ginsburg & Morales, 1998 |
Type species | |
†Ballusia elmensis | |
Species | |
|
Ballusia is a genus of small bear from the Early Miocene epoch, about 20.5-18 million years ago. Fossil remains attributed to the genus have been uncovered in Europe (Poland) and Asia (Russia, Mongolia, China). [1] [2] The genus Ballusia was established in 1998 on the basis of different fossils originally classified as various species of the genera Ursavus and Hemicyon , [1] with B. elmensis as the type species. The exact relationship of Ballusia to "true" bears (subfamily Ursinae, which include modern bears) are not yet fully understood: many palaeontologists have classified it as a primitive member of Ursinae, but its known skeletal elements have some features in common with the extinct bear subfamily Hemicyoninae. Because of this, some researchers refer Ballusia as "Ursidae incertae sedis ". Ginsburg and Morales regarded B. elmenensis as ancestral to Ursavus , [1] as did Marciszak and Lipecki, even though the temporal range of the two genera seems to have overlapped. [3] [4]
Ballusia were smaller than most living bear species: fossil remains of the species B. orientalis [5] indicate an animal about the size of a domestic cat with body proportions similar to a wolverine, while B. elmenensis were the size of a Eurasian lynx. [3] It possessed slender legs [6] and also had relatively longer tail than modern bears.
Pseudaelurus is a prehistoric cat that lived in Europe, Asia and North America in the Miocene between approximately twenty and eight million years ago. It is considered to be a paraphyletic grade ancestral to living felines and pantherines as well as the extinct machairodonts (saber-tooths), and is a successor to Proailurus. It originated from Eurasia and was the first cat to reach North America, when it entered the continent at about 18.5 Ma ending a 'cat-gap' of 7 million years. The slender proportions of the animal, together with its short, viverrid-like legs, suggest that it may have been an agile climber of trees.
The Knife Tooth Cat (Machairodus) is a genus of large machairodont or ''saber-toothed cat'' that lived in Africa, Eurasia and North America during the late Miocene. It is the animal from which the subfamily Machairodontinae gets its name and has since become a wastebasket taxon over the years as many genera of sabertooth cat have been and are still occasionally lumped into it.
Amphicyonidae is an extinct family of terrestrial carnivorans belonging to the suborder Caniformia. They first appeared in North America in the middle Eocene, spread to Europe by the late Eocene, and further spread to Asia and Africa by the early Miocene. They had largely disappeared worldwide by the late Miocene, with the latest recorded species at the end of the Miocene in Africa. They were among the first carnivorans to evolve large body size. Amphicyonids are colloquially referred to as "bear-dogs".
Eutamias is a genus of chipmunks within the tribe Marmotini of the squirrel family. It includes a single living species, the Siberian chipmunk. The genus is often treated as a subgenus of Tamias, which is now restricted to the eastern chipmunk of North America. Neotamias, which now includes the western North American chipmunks, has also been included in Eutamias.
Hyaenodon ("hyena-tooth") is an extinct genus of carnivorous placental mammals from extinct tribe Hyaenodontini within extinct subfamily Hyaenodontinae, that lived in Eurasia and North America from the middle Eocene, throughout the Oligocene, to the early Miocene.
Adelphailurus is an extinct genus of metailurin machairodontine (saber-toothed) cat that inhabited western North America during the middle Pliocene. It is monotypic, containing only the species Adelphailurus kansensis.
Ailuropodinae is a subfamily of Ursidae that contains only one extant species, the giant panda of China. The fossil record of this group has shown that various species of pandas were more widespread across the Holarctic, with species found in places such as Europe, much of Asia, North America and even Africa. The earliest pandas were not unlike other modern bear species in that they had an omnivorous diet but by around 2.4 million years ago, pandas have evolved to be more herbivorous.
Amphicyon is an extinct genus of large carnivorans belonging to the family Amphicyonidae, subfamily Amphicyoninae, from the Miocene epoch. Members of this family received their vernacular name for possessing bear-like and dog-like features. They ranged over North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Parictis is an extinct arctoid belonging to the family Subparictidae.
Ursoidea is a superfamily of arctoid carnivoran mammals that includes the families Subparictidae, Amphicynodontidae, and Ursidae. The last family includes the extant lineages of bears, as well as the extinct Hemicyoninae and Ursavinae.
Percrocutidae is an extinct family of hyena-like feliform carnivores endemic to Asia, Africa, and Southern Europe from the Middle Miocene through the Pliocene, existing for about 8 million years.
Plithocyon is an extinct genus of hemicyonine bear of the Miocene epoch, endemic to North America and Europe. It lived from ~15.97—11.61 Ma, existing for approximately 4 million years.
Eucyon is an extinct genus of medium omnivorous coyote-like canid that first appeared in the Western United States during the late Middle Miocene 10 million years ago. It was the size of a jackal and weighed around 15kg. Its species E. zhoui was one of a number of North American mammals which invaded East Asia around 5–6 million years ago, followed by the genus going extinct 3 million years ago. This genus is proposed to have given rise to genus Canis 6 million years ago.
Hemicyoninae is an extinct subfamily of Ursidae, often called dog bears. They were bear-like carnivorans living in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia during the Oligocene through Miocene epochs 33.9–5.3 Ma, existing for approximately 28.6 million years. They are sometimes classified as a separate family.
Ursavini is an extinct tribe of mammals of the family Ursidae (bears) endemic to North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia during the Miocene through the Pliocene, living from about 23—2.5 Mya, existing for roughly 20.5 million years.
This paleomammalogy list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2013, as well as notes other significant paleomammalogy discoveries and events which occurred during that year.
This paleomammalogy list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2011, as well as notes other significant paleomammalogy discoveries and events which occurred during that year.
The Liushu Formation is a geological formation in Gansu province, China that spans up to 100 m thick and is widely distributed within the Linxia Basin, with a paleomagnetic age between 11 and 6.4 mya.
Protursus is a fossil genus of ailurid with a single species Protursus simpsoni, known from a single left m2 tooth.