Miomachairodus

Last updated

Miomachairodus
Temporal range: Middle Miocene–Late Miocene
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Machairodontinae
Genus: Miomachairodus
Schmidt-Kittler, 1976
Type species
Miomachairodus pseudailuroides
Schmidt-Kittler, 1976

Miomachairodus is an extinct genus of large machairodontine (saber-toothed cat) containing only a single species, Miomachairodus pseudailuroides. It is mainly known from Middle Miocene-age fossils in Turkey and persisted until the early Late Miocene (Vallesian). [1] Fossils of this machairodont have been found in the Vallesian-age Bahe Formation in Shaanxi, China, and Yeni Eskihisar in Anatolia. This Turkish site is of Miocene age and is well known for its pollen studies. [2]

Contents

History and naming

The genus was first named by paleontologist Norbert Schmidt-Kittler in 1976 based on the holotype, a partial skull from Akçaköy, Eşme District, Turkey, and a second specimen, a lower jaw from Yeni Eskihisar. The generic name Miomachairodus is a combination of Mio, referring to the Miocene when it lived, and Machairodus; the specific name pseudailuroides means "like Pseudaelurus". [3]

In 2022, material from the Guanigou fauna in the Linxia Basin was described as Miomachairodus sp., and the authors suggested that it represented a new species of Miomachairodus. The fossil, a partial maxilla from the early Late Miocene (early Bahean), represented the oldest known machairodontine in Asia. They refrained from definitively naming the species because it lacked the fourth premolar. [4] The fossil material had previously been assigned to Machairodus palanderi in 2013. [5]

Description

The Miomachairodus sp. from the Linxia Basin is known only from a single fossil (HMV2039), a partial maxilla with the first, second, and third incisors, the canine, and the third premolar present, as well as the alveolus of the second premolar and a broken fourth premolar. The incisors are small and the canine tooth has "distinct but small" serrations. It was distinguished from M. pseudailuroides by having a shorter diastema between the canine and third premolar, and in the differing morphology of the third premolar. The describing paper estimated it was a large carnivoran that weighed more than 100 kilograms (220 lb). [4]

Classification

A 2018 phylogenetic analysis recovered Miomachairodus pseudailuroides as basal to most of the rest of Machairodontinae. [6]

Machairodontinae

Miomachairodus pseudailuroides

Hyperailurictis spp. + Nimravides spp.

Related Research Articles

<i>Machairodus</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

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.

<i>Dinofelis</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Dinofelis is an extinct genus of machairodontine, usually classified in the tribe Metailurini. It was widespread in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America from 5 million to about 1.2 million years ago. Fossils very similar to Dinofelis from Lothagam range back to around 8 million years ago, in the Late Miocene.

<i>Platybelodon</i> Extinct genus of large herbivorous proboscidean mammals

Platybelodon is an extinct genus of large herbivorous proboscidean mammals related to modern-day elephants, placed in the "shovel tusker" family Amebelodontidae. Species lived during the middle Miocene Epoch in Africa, Asia and the Caucasus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Machairodontinae</span> Extinct subfamily of carnivores

Machairodontinae is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the family Felidae. They were found in Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Europe, with the earliest species known from the Middle Miocene, with the last surviving species becoming extinct around Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition.

<i>Adelphailurus</i> Extinct genus of felid

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.

<i>Amphicyon</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

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.

<i>Protictitherium</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Protictitherium is an extinct genus of hyena that lived across Europe and Asia during the Middle and Late Miocene, it is often considered to be the first hyena since it contains some of the oldest fossils of the family. They were especially prolific in Turkey, where every species has been registered.

<i>Chilotherium</i> Extinct genus of rhiniceros

Chilotherium is an extinct genus of rhinocerotids endemic to Eurasia during the Miocene through Pliocene living for 13.7—3.4 mya, existing for approximately 10.3 million years.

<i>Agnotherium</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Agnotherium is a genus of large sized carnivoran mammals, belonging to the Amphicyonidae, which has been found in Western Europe, and possibly China and Northern Africa, and lived during the Late Miocene epoch. Despite only being known from fragmentary remains, the genus notable for hypercarnivorous adaptions, which have been said to represent the "apex" among its family.

<i>Gobicyon</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Gobicyon is an extinct genus of large-sized carnivoran mammals, belonging to the Amphicyonidae, that was discovered in China, Mongolia, and Serbia, and lived during the Middle Miocene epoch. Despite only being known from rather fragmentary remains, recent discoveries showcase that it was an aberrant member of the subfamily Haplocyoninae, with adaptions towards bone-crushing similar to those of a hyaena.

La Roma is a Miocene fossil site in the Teruel Province of Spain.

<i>Adcrocuta</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Adcrocuta is an extinct genus of terrestrial carnivore in the family Hyaenidae that lived in Africa and Eurasia during the Miocene epoch.

<i>Amphimachairodus</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Amphimachairodus is an extinct genus of large machairodonts. It is also a member of the tribe Homotherini within Machairodontinae and is most closely related to such species as Xenosmilus, Homotherium itself, and Nimravides. It inhabited Eurasia, Northern Africa and North America during the late Miocene epoch.

Hemimachairodus is an extinct genus of machairodontine (sabre-toothed) cat with only one species, Hemimachairodus zwierzyckii, known from fossils from the Pleistocene of Java.

Stenailurus is an extinct genus of metailurin machairodontine (saber-toothed) cat from the Late Miocene of Spain. It contains a single species, Stenailurus teilhardi . It was described based on a piece of maxilla in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liushu Formation</span> Geological formation in Gansu, China

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.

Longchuansmilus is an extinct genus of machairodontine (sabre-toothed) cat that lived in China during the Late Miocene. The type and only species, Longchuansmilus xingyongi, was described in 2022.

Taowu is an extinct genus of machairodonts, a type of saber-toothed cat. It lived during the Early Pleistocene about 2.5 million years ago in East Asia. So far, only one skull is known, found in northern China. Based on this, a relatively small representative of the saber-toothed cats can be reconstructed, which only reached the size of a present-day leopard. In its dentition characteristics, it mediates between phylogenetic older forms such as Amphimachairodus and younger members such as Homotherium. The genus was scientifically described in 2022, but the find material was recovered as early as the 1930s.

<i>Fortunictis</i> Extinct genus of felid

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.

References

  1. Qiu, Z. (1990). "The Chinese Neogene Mammalian Biochronology — Its Correlation with the European Neogene Mammalian Zonation". In Lindsay, H.E.; Fahlbusch, V.; Mein, P. (eds.). European Neogene Mammal Chronology. Plenum Press. pp. 527–556. doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-2513-8_32.
  2. Fortelius, Mikael. Geology and paleontology of the Miocene Sinap Formation, Turkey.
  3. Schmidt-Kittler, Norbert (1976). "Raubtiere aus dem Jungtertiär Kleinasiens" [Carnivores from the Late Tertiary of Asia Minor]. Palaeontographica Abteilung A (in German). 155: 107–113.
  4. 1 2 Jiangzuo, Qigao; Wang, Shiqi; Deng, Tao (2023). "Chronological framework and palaeoecology of Carnivora from the Linxia Basin, China". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 615: 111463. Bibcode:2023PPP...61511463J. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111463. S2CID   257061069.
  5. Deng, T., Hou, S. K., Xie, G. P., Wang, S. Q., Shi, Q. Q., Chen, S. K., ... & Lu, X. K. (2013). "Chronostratigraphic subdivision and correlation of the Upper Miocene of the Linxia Basin in Gansu, China". Journal of Stratigraphy. 37: 417–427.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. Piras, Paolo; Silvestro, Daniele; Carotenuto, Francesco; Castiglione, Silvia; Kotsakis, Anastassios; Maiorino, Leonardo; Melchionna, Marina; Mondanaro, Alessandro; Sansalone, Gabriele; Serio, Carmela; Vero, Veronica Anna; Raia, Pasquale (2018). "Evolution of the sabertooth mandible: A deadly ecomorphological specialization". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 496: 166–174. Bibcode:2018PPP...496..166P. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.01.034. hdl: 2158/1268434 .

Further reading