Sivapanthera

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Sivapanthera
Temporal range: Pliocene-Pleistocene
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Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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
  • Sivapanthera potens(Pilgrim, 1932)
  • Sivapanthera linxiaensisQiu et al., 2004
Synonyms
Genus synonymy
  • AbacinonyxKretzoi, 1929b
  • SivafelisPilgrim, 1932
Synonyms of S. potens
  • Sivafelis potensPilgrim, 1932
Synonyms of S. brachygnathus
  • Felis (?Cynaelurus) brachygnathaLydekker, 1884
  • Cynaeulurus brachygnathussensu Pilgrim, 1910
  • Felis brachygnathasensu Matthew, 1929
  • Acinonyx brachygnathussensu Kretzoi, 1929a
  • Acinonyx lydekkeriKretzoi, 1929a
  • Abacinonyx brachygnathussensu Kretzoi, 1929b
  • Sivafelis brachygnathussensu Pilgrim, 1932

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 .

History of taxonomy

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] In 2024, S. pleistocaenicus has been reclassified as a new species of Acinonyx. [14]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Acinonyx</i> Genus of carnivores

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<i>Acinonyx pardinensis</i> Extinct species of carnivore

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<i>Panthera zdanskyi</i> Extinct species of carnivore

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<i>Panthera blytheae</i> Extinct species of mammal

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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.

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<i>Sivasmilus</i> Extinct genus of barbourofelid

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.

References

  1. ↑ Lydekker, R. (1884). "Siwalik and Narbada Carnivora". Palaeontologia Indica. 2: 178–351.
  2. ↑ Zdansky, O. (1925). "Quartare Carnivoren aus Nord-China". Palæontologia Sinica, ser. C, v. 2, fasc. 2. Geological Survey of China: 23.
  3. ↑ Kretzoi, M. (1929). "Materialien zur phylogenetischen Klassifikation der Ailuroïden". In Csiki, E. (ed.). Xe Congrès international de zoologie, tenu à Budapest du 4 au 10 septembre 1927. Volume 2. Budapest: Imprimerie Stephaneus. pp. 1293–1355.
  4. ↑ Kretzoi, Miklos (1929). "Feliden–studien [Felida-tanulmányok. II. Aeluroidea közlemény]" (PDF). Földtani Intézet Házinyomdája (in Hungarian). 24: 15.
  5. ↑ Matthew, W. D. (1929). "Critical Observations upon Siwalik Mammals". Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. LVI: 494–495. hdl:2246/1325.
  6. ↑ Pilgrim, G. E. (1932). "The fossil Carnivora of India". Palaeontologia Indica. New Series. 18: 199–203.
  7. ↑ Colbert, Edwin H. (1935). "Siwalik Mammals in the American Museum of Natural History". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 26: 1123–124. doi:10.2307/1005467. JSTOR   1005467.
  8. ↑ Simpson, G. G. (1945). "The principles of classification and classification of mammals". Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. 85: 1–350.
  9. ↑ Qiu, Z.; Deng, T.; Wang, B. (2004). "Early Pleistocene Mammalian fauna from Longdan, Dongxiang, Gansu, China" (PDF). Palaeontologia Sinica, New Series C. 191 (27): 1–198.
  10. ↑ Tong, Haowen; Zhang, Bei; Chen, Xi; Jiangzuo, Qigao; Liu, Jinyi; Wang, Xiaoming (2023). "New carnivoran remains from the Early Pleistocene Shanshenmiaozui site in Nihewan Basin, northern China". Quaternary International. 658: 60–79. Bibcode:2023QuInt.658...60T. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2023.04.003. S2CID   258306072.
  11. ↑ Cherin, Marco; Iurino, Dawid Adam; Sardella, Raffaele; Rook, Lorenzo (2014). "Acinonyx pardinensis (Carnivora, Felidae) from the Early Pleistocene of Pantalla (Italy): Predatory behavior and ecological role of the giant Plio–Pleistocene cheetah". Quaternary Science Reviews. 87: 82–97. Bibcode:2014QSRv...87...82C. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.01.004.
  12. ↑ Jiangzuo, Qigao; Liu, Jinyi (2020). "First record of the Eurasian jaguar in southern Asia and a review of dental differences between pantherine cats". Journal of Quaternary Science. 35 (6): 817–830. Bibcode:2020JQS....35..817J. doi:10.1002/jqs.3222. S2CID   219914902.
  13. ↑ Olive, Florence (2006). "Évolution des grands Carnivores au Plio Pléistocène en Afrique et en Europe occidentale". L'Anthropologie. 110 (5): 850–869. doi:10.1016/j.anthro.2006.10.005.
  14. ↑ Jiangzuo, Q.; Wang, Y.; Madurell-Malapeira, J.; Bartolini Lucenti, S.; Li, S.; Wang, S.; Li, Z.; Yang, R.; Jia, Y.; Zhang, L.; Chen, S.; Jin, C.; Wang, Y.; Liu, J. (2024). "Massive early Middle Pleistocene cheetah from eastern Asia shed light onto the evolution of Acinonyx in Eurasia". Quaternary Science Reviews. 332. 108661. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108661.
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