| Adelphailurus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | †Machairodontinae |
| Tribe: | †Metailurini |
| Genus: | †Adelphailurus Hibbard, 1934 |
| Species | |
| |
) | |
| Range of Adrlphailurus based on fossil record | |
Adelphailurus is an extinct genus of saber-toothed cats of the family Felidae and tribe Metailurini[1] which inhabited western North America during the Miocene, living from 10.3—5.33 Ma and existing for approximately 4.97 million years. [2]
Taxonomy
Adelphailurus was named by Hibbard (1934). Its type is Adelphailurus kansensis. It was assigned to Felidae by Hibbard (1934) and Carroll (1988); and to Machairodontinae by Martin (1998).[3][4][5]
Morphology
It was a cougar-sized animal and may have had habits similar to those of a cougar. Its body had the same shape as a cougar except for a long and compressed upper canine. This would place this cat into the "false-sabertooth" group. Apart from that Adelphailurus had a retained upper second premolar, which is unusual for a cat.
References
- ^ Turner, Alan; Antón, Mauricio (1997). The Big Cats and their fossil relatives. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10228-3.
- ^ Paleobiology Database: Adelphailurus, Basic info.
- ^ C. W. Hibbard. 1934. Two new genera of Felidae from the middle Pliocene of Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 37:239-255 [1]
- ^ R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company
- ^ L. D. Martin. 1998. Felidae. Evolution of Tertiary mammals of North America (eds. C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs) 1:236-242
External links