| Miopanthera | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Genus: | † Miopanthera Gaillard, 1899 |
| Type species | |
| †Pseudaelurus lorteti Gaillard, 1899 | |
| Species | |
| |
| Synonyms | |
M. lorteti
M. pamiri?
| |
Miopanthera is an extinct genus of Pseudaelurus -grade felids.
The genus Miopanthera was first proposed in 1938 by Kretzoi for the species Pseudaelurus lorteti. [1] P. lorteti had previously been described as such in 1899, upon the discovery of fossils in Europe. However, Kretzoi's proposal was largely ignored by later authors. A 2010 review of the Felidae proposed splitting the genus Pseudaelurus in three, and suggested assigning P. lorteti to the genus Styriofelis alongside P. turnauensis. [2]
Another species, Felis pamiri, was described in 1965 based on a snout fragment found in Turkey. The locality at which it was found was estimated to be from the late Miocene, about 9.9 Ma. After its original description, no further material was assigned to the species. [3] [4]
In 2017, a review of the species Felis pamiri concluded that it was likely closely related to S. lorteti, and reassigned both species to the genus Miopanthera. The paper also noted that the species Panthera blytheae , which had been described not long before, lacked features that assigned it specifically to the genus Panthera, but that further examination of the material had the potential to clarify Miopanthera's relation to the modern pantherine (Panthera and Neofelis) cats. [4]
A 2020 study of newfound material from the Siwaliks region suggested that the species Miopanthera lorteti be reassigned to the genus Sivaelurus , and that M. pamiri be assigned to a new genus because it is younger, larger, and more derived. [5] Another study done in 2023 proposed moving both M. pamiri and P. blytheae to a new genus, Palaeopanthera . [6]
Miopanthera lorteti ranged in size from that of a large caracal to a small leopard. Miopanthera pamiri, which is known only from fragmentary, though intact, material[ clarification needed ] from a single individual, is theorized to have been similar in size to a large lynx or a small puma. [4]
M. pamiri is believed to have evolved from the earlier M. lorteti. Due to certain features, it is also considered likely that Miopanthera was in some way ancestral to the modern Panthera lineage. [4]
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.
Panthera is a genus within the family Felidae, and one of two extant genera in the subfamily Pantherinae. It contains the largest living members of the cat family. There are five living species: the jaguar, leopard, lion, snow leopard and tiger, as well as a number of extinct species, including the cave lion and American lion.
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.
Metailurini is an extinct taxonomic tribe of large saber-toothed cats that lived in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America from the Miocene to the Pleistocene.
Paramachaerodus is an extinct genus of saber-tooth cat of the subfamily Machairodontinae, which was endemic to Eurasia during the Middle and Late Miocene from 15 to 9 Ma. A 2022 phylogenetic analysis suggested that the genus may be polyphyletic.
The Pantherinae is a subfamily of the Felidae; it was named and first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1917 as only including the Panthera species, but later also came to include the clouded leopards. The Pantherinae genetically diverged from a common ancestor between 9.32 to 4.47 million years ago and 10.67 to 3.76 million years ago.
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.
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.
Nimravides is a genus of extinct saber-toothed cats that lived in North America during the Late Miocene, between 10.3 and 5.332 Ma. Despite its scientific name, Nimravides does not belong to the Nimravidae, but is a true cat belonging to the family Felidae.
Pratifelis is an extinct genus of feline that lived in North America during the middle Miocene period. It contains a single species, Pratifelis martini.
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.
Palaeopanthera is an extinct genus of pantherine felid which lived during the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene of Asia. It contains two species, P. blytheae and P. pamiri, which were initially suggested as members of the genera Panthera and Felis respectively, but subsequent studies have placed both species to be separate from their original generic assignment.
Yoshi is an extinct genus of machairodontine sabertooth cat in the tribe Metailurini. Its remains were first discovered in Pikermi, Greece, and were assigned by Reinhold Friedrich Hensel to Machairodus (under the new species M. parvulus. In 1938, Miklós Kretzoi assigned it to a new genus, Pikermia. Subsequently, it was realised that the Greek taxon was closely related to another from China, then called Parapseudailurus minor, and both were synonymised. In 2014, a new genus, Yoshi, was erected to encompass the two, resurrecting Y. minor as a valid species. As M. parvulus was a nomen dubium, a new species, Yoshi garevskii, was designated as the type. In the intervening years, three more species have been assigned to the genus: Y. faie, Y. obscura, and Y. yongdengenesis.
Sivapanthera is a prehistoric genus of felid described by Kretzoi in 1929. Species of Sivapanthera are closely related to the modern cheetah but differ from modern cheetahs by having relatively longer brain cases, flatter foreheads, narrower nostrils and larger teeth. In many ways, skulls of Sivapanthera show similarity to that of the puma, or even those of Panthera. Scholars differ on the validity of this genus, while some think that it should be treated as a distinct genus, others think that its members should be treated as members of the Acinonyx genus, or even as subspecies of Acinonyx pardinensis.
Styriofelis is an extinct genus of Felidae known from the Miocene of Europe.
Hyperailurictis is an extinct genus of felid from Miocene North America. The Hyperailurictis species are Pseudaelurus-grade felids and thought to be the first felids in the Americas.
Sivaelurus is a fossil genus of felid containing only a single species, S. chinjiensis, which was described based on a partial right maxilla collected from the Chinji Formation in the Lower Siwaliks. The species was originally described by Guy Ellcock Pilgrim as Pseudaelurus chinjiensis in 1910, who later erected a new genus, Sivaelurus, for it in 1913.
Asilifelis is an extinct genus of small felid that lived in what is now Kenya during the Early Miocene. Despite its fragmentary remains, it is remarkable because of its small size and advanced dentition. It contains a single species, Asilifelis cotae.
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.
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.