Sivapanthera Temporal range: | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | Felidae |
Subfamily: | Felinae |
Genus: | † Sivapanthera Kretzoi, 1929 |
Type species | |
Sivapanthera brachygnathus (Lydekker, 1884) | |
Other Species | |
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Synonyms | |
Genus synonymy
Synonyms of S. potens
Synonyms of S. brachygnathus
Synonyms of S. pleistocaenicus
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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 .
In 1884, Lydekker described two rami from the Pinjor Formation as Felis (?Cynaelurus) brachygnatha. [1] And later in 1925, Zdansky described Cynailurus pleistocaenicus based on fossils from Shansi, China. [2]
In 1929, Hungarian palaeontologist Miklos Kretzoi described several new genera and species: in one paper he re-assigned Felis (Cynaelurus) brachygnatha as Acinonyx brachygnathus, re-described one of its two referred specimens as the new genus and species Sivapanthera lydekkeri; [3] then in a second paper, he described the genus Abacinonyx for Cynailurus pleistocaenicus (the type species) and Felis (Cynaelurus) brachygnathus. [4]
Also in 1929, American paleontologist W. D. Matthews made a review of Siwalik mammals in which he considered Cynailurus pleistoceanicus a junior synonym of Felis brachygnatha, which was also very similar to Felis arvernensis . [5]
Guy Ellcock Pilgrim, in 1932, described a new genus Sivafelis, with the new species Sivafelis potens as the type species and including Felis (?Cynaelurus) brachygnatha (=Sivafelis brachygnathus, and including Sivapanthera lydekkeri as a synonym) and Cynailurus pleistocaenicus (=Sivafelis pleistocaenicus). He admitted that both Abacinonyx and Sivapanthera were older, but stated that the confusion around the type species- Sivapanthera was the senior-most name but its type species was a junior synonym of Abacinonyx' type- compelled him to name a new genus. [6] Colbert Edwin, in his review of Siwalik mammals, followed Pilgrim's assignment of Sivafelis brachygnathus and Sivafelis potens. [7] But Simpson in 1945 noted that Sivapanthera was the senior and thus correct name for the genus, rendering Sivafelis and Abacinonyx junior synonyms. [8]
A fourth species, Sivapanthera linxiaensis from Early Pleistocene deposits in China's Dongxiang Autonomous County, was described in 2004. [9]
The status of Sivapanthera species is unresolved, with some researchers considering them all junior synonyms of Acinonyx pardinensis, subspecies of A. pardinensis, species in the genus Acinonyx, or belonging to the genus Sivapanthera is various states of synonymy with each other. [10] [11] One paper has suggested in passing that S. potens is a synonym of S. brachygnathus, [12] while another paper stated that "S." potens was unlikely to belong to the same genus and was, in fact, more similar to Panthera uncia and Panthera onca . [13]
Panthera is a genus within the family Felidae that was named and described by Lorenz Oken in 1816 who placed all the spotted cats in this group. Reginald Innes Pocock revised the classification of this genus in 1916 as comprising the tiger, lion, jaguar, and leopard on the basis of common cranial features. Results of genetic analysis indicate that the snow leopard also belongs to the genus Panthera, a classification that was accepted by IUCN Red List assessors in 2008.
Acinonyx is a genus within the Felidae family. The only living species of the genus, the cheetah, lives in open grasslands of Africa and Asia.
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.
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.
Miracinonyx is an extinct genus of felids belonging to the subfamily Felinae that was endemic to North America from the Pleistocene epoch and morphologically similar to the modern cheetah, although its apparent similar ecological niches have been considered questionable due to anatomical morphologies of the former that would have crippled any ability to run as fast. The genus was originally known from fragments of skeletons, but nearly complete skeletons have been recovered from Natural Trap Cave in northern Wyoming.
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.
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. 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.
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.
Ailuropodinae is a subfamily of Ursidae that contains only one extant species, the giant panda of China. The fossil record of this group has shown that various species of pandas were more widespread across the Holarctic, with species found in places such as Europe, much of Asia and even North America. The earliest pandas were not unlike other modern bear species in that they had an omnivorous diet but by around 2.4 million years ago, pandas have evolved to be more herbivorous.
Panthera gombaszoegensis, also known as the European jaguar, is a Panthera species that lived from about 2.0 to 0.35 million years ago in Europe. The first fossils were excavated in 1938 in Gombasek, Slovakia.
Panthera palaeosinensis was an early Pleistocene species from northern China. It is often incorrectly referenced as the ancestor of the tiger, Panthera tigris, although it shares features with all living large cats. Recent studies place it close to the base of the genus Panthera.
Acinonyx pardinensis, sometimes called the Giant cheetah, is an extinct felid species belonging to the genus Acinonyx, closely related to the cheetah, native to Eurasia during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. It was substantially larger than the living cheetah.
Xenocyon is an extinct group of canids, either considered a distinct genus or a subgenus of Canis. The group includes Canis (Xenocyon) africanus, Canis (Xenocyon) antonii and Canis (Xenocyon) falconeri that gave rise to Canis (Xenocyon) lycanoides. The hypercarnivorous Xenocyon is thought to be closely related and possibly ancestral to modern dhole and the African wild dog, as well as the insular Sardinian dhole.
Acinonyx intermedius is a fossil species of felid belonging to the cheetah genus Acinonyx. It was described by paleontologist Thenius in 1954. It is sometimes considered part of Acinonyx pardinensis as A. p. intermedius.
Panthera zdanskyi is an extinct pantherine species, the fossils of which were excavated in Gansu Province, northwestern China. Due to its close relationship with the modern tiger, it is called the Longdan tiger.
Panthera blytheae is an extinct species of pantherine felid that lived during the late Messinian to early Zanclean ages approximately 5.95–4.1 million years ago.The first fossils were excavated in August 2010 in the Zanda Basin located in the Ngari Prefecture on the Tibetan Plateau; they were described and named in 2014.
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.
Miopanthera is an extinct genus of Pseudaelurus-grade felids.
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.
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.