Adelphailurus

Adelphailurus; Temporal range: Late Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Family:	Felidae
Subfamily:	†Machairodontinae
Tribe:	†Metailurini
Genus:	†Adelphailurus; Hibbard, 1934
Species
	†Adelphailurus kansensis;
	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[]

^ 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[]

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[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

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hide v t Machairodonts
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Clade: Synapsida Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Felidae
Homotherini	Amphimachairodus Lokotunjailurus Homotherium Nimravides Xenosmilus
Metailurini	Adelphailurus Dinofelis Pontosmilus Stenailurus Metailurus Yoshi
Smilodontini	Megantereon Paramachairodus Rhizosmilodon Smilodon Promegantereon
Machairodontini	Hemimachairodus Miomachairodus Machairodus