| Magerifelis Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | Felinae |
| Genus: | † Magerifelis Salesa et al., 2024 |
| Type species | |
| Magerifelis peignei Salesa et al., 2024 | |
Magerifelis is an extinct genus of feline with only one species assigned to it, Magerifelis peignei. It was described in 2024 based on seven fossils from the middle Miocene of Spain and France.
The holotype fossil (05/101/2/3622) was discovered in 2007 from the Príncipe Pío-2 locality in Madrid, Spain. In 2024, it was described by a group of researchers at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales as a new genus and species, Magerifelis peignei. Six other fossils from France that had previously been assigned to Styriofelis turnauensis were reassigned to the new species. [1] [2]
The generic name Magerifelis is a combination of "Magerit", the original name for Madrid, and the Latin word felis meaning "cat". The specific name peignei honors the French paleontologist Stéphane Peigné, a deceased colleague and friend of the describing authors. [1]
All the known fossils of Magerifelis are hemimandibles, with or without various teeth intact. The species was described as having a relatively small lower canine tooth, with an absent or severely reduced second premolar, third and fourth premolars present, and the first molar present, and second molar also present but reduced. [1]
Salesa et al. assigned Magerifelis to the subfamily Felinae in the cat family Felidae. They also recovered it in a small cladogram as outside of a clade containing several extant cat species, but more derived than some other known fossil species: [1]
| Felidae |
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Based on its holotype, Magerifelis peignei was estimated to weigh about 7.61 kilograms (16.8 lb), though the researchers suggested that the robustness of the hemimandible indicated that the actual body weight was higher. [1]
Like similarly-sized modern cats, Magerifelis likely preyed on rodents, birds, lagomorphs, and small mustelids, all of which have been recorded from the Príncipe Pío-2 site; it may also have preyed on small ungulates such as Cainotherium , Micromeryx , Lagomeryx , and Dorcatherium . Though the researchers also stated that the robustness of the jaws indicate that M. peignei also preyed on larger animals than other similarly-sized felids would. [1]
The Príncipe Pío-2 locality has been dated back to European land mammal age 5 (middle Aragonian) of the Middle Miocene, about 15.5 million years ago. [1] [3]
Felidae is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid. The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to the domestic cat.
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.
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.
Paramachaerodus is an extinct genus of saber-tooth cat of the subfamily Machairodontinae, which was endemic to Europe and Asia during the Middle and Late Miocene from 15 to 9 Ma. A 2022 phylogenetic analysis suggested that the genus may be polyphyletic.
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.
Wakaleo is an extinct genus of medium-sized thylacoleonids that lived in Australia in the Late Oligocene and Miocene Epochs. Although much smaller than its close relative, the marsupial lion, Wakaleo would have been a successful hunter. It had teeth specially designed for cutting and stabbing. The genus is from an extinct family of Vombatiformes, so it is distantly related to the herbivorous wombats.
Barbourofelidae is an extinct family of carnivorans of the suborder Feliformia, sometimes known as false saber-toothed cats, that lived in North America, Eurasia and Africa during the Miocene epoch and existed for about 7.9 million years. Thought to be an independent lineage from the Nimravidae and Machairodontinae, which had all attained elongated canines, recent research argues that it may be a subfamily of the Nimravidae, extending its biochronological range into the Miocene, although this issue is not yet fully resolved.
Pratifelis is an extinct genus of feline that lived in North America during the middle Miocene period. It contains a single species, Pratifelis martini.
Pristifelis is an extinct genus of feline from the late Miocene. It contains a single species, Pristifelis attica. The first fossil skull of P. attica was excavated near Pikermi in Attica, Greece. Fossils were also excavated near the Moldovan city of Taraclia. It was also discovered in Maragheh, northwestern Iran. P. attica was bigger in body size than a European wildcat but probably smaller than a serval. The species was first described as Felis attica by Johann Andreas Wagner in 1857. Due to size differences, it was proposed as type species for the genus Pristifelis proposed in 2012.
Cerro de los Batallones is a hill at Torrejón de Velasco, Madrid, Spain where a number of fossil sites from the Upper Miocene (MN10) have been found. Nine sites have been discovered with predominantly vertebrate fossils, invertebrates and plants being less represented. The first deposits were discovered accidentally in July 1991.
Magericyon is an extinct genus of Amphicyonid ("bear-dog") that lived during the Miocene 10-9 Ma in what is now Spain.
Styriofelis is an extinct genus of Felidae known from the Miocene of Europe.
Leptofelis is an extinct genus of Pseudaelurus-grade felid found in Spain.
Sivapardus is an extinct, little-known genus of feline with only one species assigned to it, Sivapardus punjabiensis. It was described in 1969 by the paleontologist Abu Bakr based on a partial mandible from the Upper Siwaliks in Pakistan; the locality it was found at is estimated to be from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene. S. punjabiensis was a large cat with a short and broad snout that may have lived on open grasslands.
Ammitocyon is a genus of large sized carnivoran mammals, belonging to the Amphicyonidae, that lived during the Late Miocene in what is now Spain. It is notable for its extreme adaptations towards hypercarnivory, its extremely robust skeleton, and was one of the last surviving members of its family.
Diamantofelis is an extinct genus of felids that lived in what is now Namibia during the Early Miocene. It contains a single species, Diamantofelis ferox.
Sivasmilus is a fossil genus of barbourofelid containing only a single species, Sivasmilus copei. It is known from only a single specimen, a partial mandible collected from the Chinji Formation in the Lower Siwaliks in Pakistan, estimated to be from the Miocene. The fossil was originally described in 1915 when it was assigned to the fossil feline Sivaelurus chinjiensis, but was used as the basis of a new genus and species in 1929 by Hungarian paleontologist Miklós Kretzoi. Sivasmilus copei was a relatively small, cat-like animal.
Fortunictis is a fossil genus of metailurin machairodontine (saber-toothed) felid containing only one species, Fortunictis acerensis. Both the genus and species were described by paleontologist Joan Pons-Moyà in 1987 based on material from Casa del Acero in Spain, which is dated back to the Upper Miocene.
Vishnufelis is a fossil genus of feline (cat) containing only a single species, Vishnufelis laticeps. It was described by Guy Ellcock Pilgrim in 1932, based on the first cranial material of a cat found in Asia: a fragmented skull found in the Chinji Formation, which dates back to the middle Miocene.
Pachypanthera is an extinct genus of pantherine felid that was recovered from the Late Miocene-aged Khorat sand pits in northeastern Thailand. It contains a single species, Pachypanthera piriyai, named and described in 2023.