Ictitherium

Ictitherium Temporal range: Late Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N (Vallesian to Turolian)
Skeletal mount, Tianjin Natural History Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Family:	Hyaenidae
Subfamily:	† Ictitheriinae
Genus:	† Ictitherium Wagner, 1848
Type species
†Ictitherium viverrinum Roth & Wagner, 1854
Species
†I. tauricumBorissiak, 1915 †I. pannonicumKretzoi, 1952 †I. intuberculatumOzansoy, 1965 †I. ibericumMeladze, 1967 †I. kurteniWerdelin, 1988
Synonyms
Genus synonymy ParaictitheriumDucrotay, 1903 LeptohyaenaDepéret, 1914 SinictitheriumZhongjian, 1937 GaleotheriumWagner, 1840 Species synonymy I. viverrinum: Galeotherium gen. nov. Wagner, 1840 Ictitherium robustum(Nadmann, 1859) Gaudry, 1862 Thalassictis gracilisHensel, 1862 Thalassictis viverrina(Roth & Wagner, 1852) Hensel, 1862 Ictitherium gaudryiZdansky, 1924 Ictitherium sinenseZdansky, 1924 Palhyaena? gaudryiZdansky, 1938 Sinictitherium sinenseKretzoi, 1938 I. tauricum: Protictitherium? tauricum(Borissiak, 1915) Schmidt-Kittler, 1976 Protictitherium crassumDepéret, 1976 I. pannonicum: Palhyaena hungaricaKretzoi, 1938 Ictitherium cf. robustumNordmann, 1952 Thalassictis aff. hipparionum(Gervais, 1846) Adrover et al., 1986 I. ibericum: Melinae gen. Meladze, 1967

Ictitherium (meaning "weasel beast") is an extinct genus belonging to the family Hyaenidae and the subfamily Ictitheriinae erected by Trouessart in 1897. ^[1] Ictitherium lived throughout Eurasia during the Late Miocene. ^[2]

Description

I. viverrinum life restoration

Ictitherium were around 1.2 metres (4 ft) long, and looked more like civets than modern hyenas, possessing a long body with short legs and a possibly short tail.

Palaeoecology

It is speculated that I. viverrinum was an opportunistic feeder, ^[3] and that it ate plants as well as medium-small mammals and birds. ^[4] I. viverrinum occupied a similar ecological niche as and competed with Hyaenictitherium wongii . ^[5] Ictitherium was a very successful and abundant genus, with multiple fossils often being found at a single site. ^[6]

References

1. "Paleobiology Database: Ictitherium basic info". Archived from the original on 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
2. Werdelin, Lars; Solounias, Nikos (1991). "The Hyaenidae: taxonomy, systematics, and evolution". Fossils and Strata. 30: 1–104. doi: 10.18261/8200374815-1991-01 . ISBN   82-00-37481-5.
3. Rivals, Florent; Belyaev, Ruslan I.; Basova, Vera B.; Prilepskaya, Natalya E. (15 May 2024). "A tale from the Neogene savanna: Paleoecology of the hipparion fauna in the northern Black Sea region during the late Miocene". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 642 112133. Bibcode:2024PPP...64212133R. doi: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2024.112133 .
4. "Carnivoran Dietary Adaptations: A Multiproxy Study on the Feeding Ecology of the Fossil Carnivorans of Greece". 14 Feb 2021.
5. Kargopoulos, Nikolaos; Roussiakis, Socrates; Kampouridis, Panagiotis; Koufos, George (30 January 2023). "Interspecific competition in ictitheres (Carnivora: Hyaenidae) from the Late Miocene of Eurasia". Comptes Rendus Palevol (3). doi:10.5852/cr-palevol2023v22a3. ISSN   1777-571X . Retrieved 14 August 2025– via Publications Scientifiques.
6. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 221. ISBN   1-84028-152-9.