Nimravides

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Nimravides
Temporal range: Late Miocene
Nimravides catacopis.JPG
Nimravides catocopis skull
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Machairodontinae
Tribe: Homotherini
Genus: Nimravides
Kitts 1958
Type species
Nimravides thinobates
(Macdonald, 1948)
Other Species
  • N. catocopis(Cope, 1887)
  • N. pedionomus(MacDonald, 1948)
  • N. hibbardi(Dalquest, 1969)
  • N. galianiBaskin, 1981
Synonyms

N. catocopis

  • Machaerodus catacopsisCope, 1887
  • Machairodus catacopsis
  • Nimravides catacopsis
  • Nimravides catocopsis(misspelling)

N. thinobates

  • Pseudaelurus thinobatesMacDonald, 1948

N. pedionomus

  • Pseudaelurus pedionomus

N. hibbardi

  • Pseudaelurus hibbardi

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. [1] Despite its scientific name, Nimravides does not belong to the Nimravidae, but is a true cat belonging to the family Felidae. [2]

Contents

History and taxonomy

The species Machaerodus catocopis was described by Cope in 1887, based on a partial mandible from the Loup Fork Beds. [3]

The species Pseudaelurus thinobates and Pseudaelurus pedionomus were both described by James Reid MacDonald in 1948. [4] [5]

The genus Nimravides was originally described by Kitt in 1958 for the species "Pseudaelurus" thinobates. [6]

In 1969, Dalquest described the species Pseudaelurus hibbardi. [7]

In 1975, Martin and Schultz reassigned Machairodus catacopsis to Nimravides and suggested that N. thinobates was a junior synonym of the former species. [8]

The species Nimravides galiani was first described in 1981 based on fragmentary material from the Love Bone Beds in Florida. The same paper also described additional fossils of N. thinobates compared to the holotype of N. catacopsis, and concluded that N. catacopsis was best considered a nomen vanum and the material assigned to it should be considered N. thinobates. [9]

"Pseudaelurus" pedionomus was reassigned to Nimravides in 1990 by Beaumont. [10]

In 2003, Tom Rothwell reassigned Pseudaelurus hibbardi to Nimravides. [11] And in 2010 it was suggested that N. hibbardi was a junior synonym of Adelphailurus kansensis. [12]

In 2013, Mauricio Anton et al. suggested that N. catacopsis should be re-reassigned back to Machairodus. [13] But this was refuted in 2022 by Jiangzuo et al.. [14]

Description

Nimravides catacopsis, one of the largest and latest species, was quite large, measuring 100 cm (1.0 m) at the shoulder and was similar in size to a large tiger. It was also possessed of long, powerful legs and a long back. For many decades, it was also believed to be a member of the genus Machairodus , but, despite the similarities between them at first glance, based on autapomorphies in the skeleton, the two animals are too different to be classified as species of the same genus, and thus, Nimravides remains separate as its own genus within the Homotherini. [15]

Paleobiology and paleoecology

Evidence published in November, 2022 suggests Nimravides was endemic to North America and that when the Machairodus- Amphimachairodus lineage emigrated to North America from Eurasia, differing aspects of their cranial anatomy allowed the newly arrived machairodont genera to survive a faunal change occurring during the earl-late Hemphillian stage of the Miocene Epoch some 6.5 million years ago. The analysis also determined that the Machairodus-Amphimachairodus lineage did not have a competitive edge over Nimravides, implying that neither newcomer or endemic species were superior to one another in regards to hunting adaptations. [14]

Related Research Articles

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

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.

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

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>Homotherium</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Homotherium is an extinct genus of machairodontine scimitar-toothed cat that inhabited North America, South America, Eurasia, and Africa during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs from around 4 million to 12,000 years ago. In comparison to Smilodon, the canines of Homotherium were shorter, and it was probably adapted to running down rather than ambushing prey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nimravidae</span> Extinct family of mammals in the order Carnivora

Nimravidae is an extinct family of carnivorans, sometimes known as false saber-toothed cats, whose fossils are found in North America and Eurasia. Not considered to belong to the true cats, the nimravids are generally considered closely related and classified as a distinct family in the suborder Feliformia. Fossils have been dated from the Middle Eocene through the Late Miocene epochs, spanning about 33.2 million years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smilodontini</span> Extinct tribe of carnivores

Smilodontini is an extinct tribe within the Machairodontinae or "saber-toothed cat" subfamily of the Felidae. The tribe is also known as the "dirk-toothed cats". They were endemic to South America, North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa during the Miocene to Pleistocene, from 10.3 mya—11,000 years ago, existing for approximately 10.3 million years.

Paramachaerodus is an extinct genus of saber-tooth cat of the subfamily Machairodontinae, which was endemic to Europe and Asia during the late Miocene from 15 to 9 Ma.

<i>Megantereon</i> Extinct genus of saber-toothed cat from North America, Eurasia and Africa

Megantereon was a genus of prehistoric machairodontine saber-toothed cat that lived in North America, Eurasia, and Africa. It is closely related to and possibly the ancestor of Smilodon.

<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>Barbourofelis</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Barbourofelis is an extinct genus of large, predatory, feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Barbourofelidae. The genus was endemic to North America and Eurasia during the Miocene until its extinction during the Tortonian, living from 13.6 to 7.3 Ma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbourofelidae</span> Extinct family of feliform carnivorans

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.

Miomachairodus is an extinct genus of large machairodontine containing only a single species, Miomachairodus pseudailuroides. It is known from Miocene-age fossils in China and Turkey and persisted until the Late Miocene. 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.

Machairodontini is an extinct tribe of large saber-toothed cats of the subfamily Machairodontinae, that lived in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, during the Middle and Late Miocene.

<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.

Yoshi is an extinct genus of machairodontine sabertooth cat in the tribe Metailurini. Its fossils were described from Turolian deposits from the Miocene epoch of the Balkan Peninsula in 2014 and specimens from China once thought to belong to Metailurus. The name comes from that of the lead author's pet cat. It has been described as potentially being synonymous with Metailurus, though this is difficult to confirm at present. The type specimen is a skull that bears remarkable similarities with the modern cheetah. Yoshi is intermediate in size between a lynx and cougar, and based on several as-yet unpublished skeletons, may have had a similar lifestyle to the cheetah, being better built for speed and fast pursuit than most other machairodonts, which were more suited to ambush and hunting large, relatively slow moving animals.

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.

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

Leptofelis is an extinct genus of Pseudaelurus-grade felid found in Spain.

Tchadailurus is a genus of machairodontine felid from the late Miocene of Chad, Africa.

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.

References

  1. Nimravides in the Paleobiology Database
  2. Larry D.Martin (1998). Felidae in Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America, Volume 1: Terrestrial Carnivores, Ungulates, Ungulatelike Mammals. Cambridge University Press.
  3. Cope, Edward Drinker (1887). "A saber-tooth tiger from the Loup Fork Beds". The American Naturalist. 21 (11): 1019–1020.
  4. MacDonald, James Reid (1948). "The Pliocene carnivores of the Black Hawk Ranch". University of California Publications, Bulletin of the Department of Geological Sciences. 28: 53–80.
  5. MacDonald, James Reid (1948). "A new species of Pseudaelurus from the lower Pliocene of Nebraska". University of California Publications, Bulletin of the Department of Geological Sciences. 28: 45–52.
  6. Kitts, David B. (1958). "Nimravides, a New Genus of Felidae from the Pliocene of California, Texas and Oklahoma". Journal of Mammalogy. 39 (3): 368–375. doi:10.2307/1376145. JSTOR   1376145.
  7. Dalquest, W. W. (1969). "Pliocene carnivores of the Coffee Ranch (type Hemphill) local fauna" (PDF). Bulletin of the Texas Memorial Museum. 15: 1–44.
  8. Martin, Larry D.; Schultz, C. Bertrand (1975). "Scimitar-toothed Cats, Machairodus and Nimravides, from the Pliocene of Kansas and Nebraska". Bulletin of the University of Nebraska State Museum. 10.
  9. Baskin, Jon A. (1981). "Barbourofelis (Nimravidae) and Nimravides (Felidae), with a Description of Two New Species from the Late Miocene of Florida". Journal of Mammalogy. 62 (1): 122–139. doi:10.2307/1380483. JSTOR   1380483.
  10. Beaumont, G. (1990). "Contribution à l'étude du genre Nimravides Kitts (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae). L'espèce N. pedionomus (Macdonald)" [Contribution to the study of the genus Nimravides Kitts (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae). The species N. pedionomus (Macdonald)]. Archives des Sciences, Genève (in French). 43 (1): 125–157. doi:10.5169/seals-740122.
  11. Rothwell, Tom (2003). "Phylogentic systematics of North American Pseudaelurus (Carnivora: Felidae)". American Museum Novitates (3403): 1–64. doi:10.1206/0003-0082(2003)403<0001:PSONAP>2.0.CO;2. S2CID   67753626.
  12. Hodnett, John-Paul (2010). "A Machairodont felid (Mammalia; Carnivora; Felidae) from the latest Hemphillian (Late Miocene/Early Pliocene) Bidahochi Formation, northeastern Arizona". Paleobios. 29 (3). doi: 10.5070/P9293021800 .
  13. Antón, Mauricio; Salesa, Manuel J.; Siliceo, Gema (2013). "Machairodont Adaptations and Affinities of the Holarctic Late Miocene Homotherin Machairodus (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae): The Case of Machairodus Catocopis Cope, 1887". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33 (5): 1202–1213. Bibcode:2013JVPal..33.1202A. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.760468. JSTOR   42568635. S2CID   86067845.
  14. 1 2 Jiangzuo, Qigao; Li, Shijie; Deng, Tao (2022). "Parallelism and lineage replacement of the late Miocene scimitar-toothed cats from the old and New World" (PDF). iScience. 25 (12): 105637. Bibcode:2022iSci...25j5637J. doi:10.1016/j.isci.2022.105637. PMC   9730133 . PMID   36505925.
  15. Antón, Mauricio (2013). Sabertooth. Bloomington, Indiana: University of Indiana Press. p. 123. ISBN   9780253010421.