Sivanasua | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | † Lophocyonidae |
Genus: | † Sivanasua Pilgrim, 1932 |
Species | |
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Sivanasua is an extinct genus of carnivorous mammal found across Miocene Europe including Germany, Austria, [1] France, Spain and the Czech Republic. Like other lophocyonids, Sivanasua had unusual lophodont dentition, meaning the molars had ridges across the grinding surface of the molars, an adaptation believed to be indicative of a herbivorous diet.
The first fossils of Sivanasua from Attenfeld, Germany, were interpreted by Max Schlosser in 1916 as a relative of the red panda. Schlosser named them "Aeluravus" viverroides. However, as the name was already occupied by a glirid, Pilgrim later suggested the name Sivanasua in its place. Pilgrim simultaneously named two more species from India and Pakistan, S. himalayensis and S. palaeindica. Both these species, alongside S. nagrii (named by Prasad in 1963), were later recovered as primates. [2] Crusafont-Pairó described a species from Spain in 1959 as S. antiqua and Fejar & Schmidt-Kittler described S. moravica in 1984. [3]
The exact relationship between Sivanasua and other carnivorans has long been debated, with historic hypothesis placing them within Ailuridae, Procyonidae and even Hyaenodontidae. [4] More recent analysis of the fossil material suggest that lophocyonids were feliforms most closely related to hyenas, represented by Protictitherium in the phylogenetic tree depicted below. [5] Within lophocyonids Sivanasua is a derived member, recovered as a sister taxon to Lophocyon by Morales et al. (2019).
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Within the genus, S. viverroides from Central and Western Europe and S. antiqua from Spain were recovered as temporally and geographically separated sister taxa, with S. moravica being their last common ancestor. [1]
The lophodont dentition observed in Sivanasua and related lophocyonids such as Izmirictis suggests adaptations towards a herbivorous lifestyle, with the microwear of the teeth being more similar to that of herbivores than obligate carnivores. [5]
Amphicyonidae is an extinct family of terrestrial carnivorans belonging to the suborder Caniformia. They first appeared in North America in the middle Eocene, spread to Europe by the late Eocene, and further spread to Asia and Africa by the early Miocene. They had largely disappeared worldwide by the late Miocene, with the latest recorded species at the end of the Miocene in Africa. They were among the first carnivorans to evolve large body size. Amphicyonids are colloquially referred to as "bear-dogs".
Ailuridae is a family in the mammal order Carnivora. The family consists of the red panda and its extinct relatives.
Creodonta is a former order of extinct carnivorous placental mammals that lived from the early Paleocene to the late Miocene epochs in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Originally thought to be a single group of animals ancestral to the modern Carnivora, this order is now usually considered a polyphyletic assemblage of two different groups, the Oxyaenids and the Hyenodonts, not a natural group. Oxyaenids are first known from the Palaeocene of North America, while hyaenodonts hail from the Palaeocene of Africa.
Megistotherium is an extinct genus of hyaenodont belonging to the family Hyainailouridae that lived in Africa.
Hyaenodon ("hyena-tooth") is an extinct genus of carnivorous placental mammals from extinct tribe Hyaenodontini within extinct subfamily Hyaenodontinae, that lived in Eurasia and North America from the middle Eocene, throughout the Oligocene, to the early Miocene.
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.
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.
Simocyon is a genus of extinct carnivoran mammal in the family Ailuridae. Simocyon, which was about the size of a mountain lion, lived in the late Miocene and early Pliocene epochs, and has been found in Europe, Asia, and rarely, North America and Africa.
Stenoplesictidae is the name of a polyphyletic family of extinct civet-like feliforms.
Ysengrinia is an extinct genus of carnivoran in the family Amphicyonidae (beardogs), which lived in Europe, Asia, and North America during the Early Miocene. It was also reported from Egypt and Namibia, but this material has been reassigned to other genera of beardogs.
Asiavorator is an extinct genus of civet-like carnivoran belonging in the family Stenoplesictidae. It was endemic to Asia and lived during the Eocene and Oligocene epochs.
Palaeogale is an extinct genus of carnivorous mammal known from the Late Eocene, Oligocene, and Early Miocene of North America, Europe, and Eastern Asia. A small carnivore often associated with the mustelids, Palaeogale might have been similar to living genets, civets, and linsangs.
Pterodon is an extinct genus of hyaenodont in the family Hyainailouridae, containing five species. The type species Pterodon dasyuroides is known exclusively from the late Eocene to the earliest Oligocene of western Europe. The genus was first erected by the French zoologist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville in 1839, who said that Georges Cuvier presented one of its fossils to a conference in 1828 but died before he could make a formal description of it. It was the second hyaenodont genus with taxonomic validity after Hyaenodon, but this resulted in taxonomic confusion over the validities of the two genera by other taxonomists. Although the taxonomic status of Pterodon was revised during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it became a wastebasket taxon for other hyaenodont species found in Africa and Asia. Today, only the type species is recognized as belonging to the genus while four others are pending reassessment to other genera.
Sivaladapis is a genus of adapiform primate that lived in Asia during the middle Miocene.
Hyaenodonta is an extinct order of hypercarnivorous placental mammals of clade Pan-Carnivora from mirorder Ferae. Hyaenodonts were important mammalian predators that arose during the early Paleocene in Europe and persisted well into the late Miocene.
Hyainailouridae ("hyena-cats") is a family of extinct predatory mammals within the superfamily Hyainailouroidea within extinct order Hyaenodonta. Hyaenodontids arose during the middle Eocene and persisted well into the middle Miocene. Fossils of this group have been found in Asia, Africa, North America and Europe.
Isohyaenodon is an extinct polyphyletic genus of hyainailourid hyaenodont mammal from the subfamily Hyainailourinae). Remains are known from early to middle Miocene deposits in Kenya, East Africa.
Lophocyonidae is an extinct family of feliform carnivorans from the Miocene of Europe.
Dissopsalini is an extinct tribe of teratodontid hyaenodonts. Fossil remains of these mammals are known from early to late Miocene deposits in Asia and Africa.
Hyainailourinae ("hyena-cats") is an extinct subfamily of hyainailourid hyaenodonts that lived in Africa, Asia, North America and Europe from the middle Eocene to middle Miocene. They appeared in Africa about 47.8 Ma ago and soon after spread as far as East Asia.