Adelphailurus

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Adelphailurus
Temporal range: Late Miocene
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Machairodontinae
Tribe: Metailurini
Genus: Adelphailurus
Hibbard, 1934
Species
  • Adelphailurus kansensis
Adelphailurus range.png
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 to 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.[citation needed] 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[]

  1. ^ Turner, Alan; Antón, Mauricio (1997). The Big Cats and their fossil relatives. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10228-3.
  2. ^ Paleobiology Database: Adelphailurus, Basic info.
  3. ^ 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]
  4. ^ R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company
  5. ^ 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[]


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