Percrocutidae

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Percrocutidae
Temporal range: Middle Miocene to Late Pliocene
Dinocrocuta.jpg
Dinocrocuta gigantea skull cast, Zoological Museum in Copenhagen
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Percrocutidae
Werdelin & Solounias, 1991
Genera

Percrocutidae is an extinct family of hyena-like feliform carnivores endemic to Asia, Africa, and Southern Europe from the Middle Miocene through the Pliocene, existing for about 8 million years.[1]

The first percrocutids are known from the middle Miocene of Europe and western Asia and belonged to the genus Percrocuta. Percrocuta already had large premolars, but did not carry such a massive bite as the later form Dinocrocuta, from the later Miocene.[2] Originally, these carnivores were placed with the hyenas in the family Hyaenidae. Today, most scientists consider the Percrocutidae to be a distinct family - although usually as sister-taxa/immediate outgroup to Hyaenidae.[3] Sometimes it is placed with the family Stenoplesictidae into the superfamily .

Taxonomy[]

Classification[]

Family Percrocutidae
Family Image Genus Species
Percrocutidae Dinocrocuta gigantea.jpg Dinocrocuta (Schmidt-Kittler, 1975)
  • D. algeriensis
  • D. gigantea
  • D. salonicae
  • D. senyureki
Percrocuta (Kretzoi, 1938)
  • P. abessalomi
  • P. carnifex
  • P. grandis
  • P. leakeyi
  • P. miocenica
  • P. tobieni
  • P. tungurensis

The list follows McKenna and Bell's Classification of Mammals for prehistoric genera (1997).[4] In contrast to McKenna and Bell's classification, they are not included as a subfamily into the Hyaenidae but as a separate family Percrocutidae.

References[]

  1. ^ Paleobiology Database: Percrocutidae basic information
  2. ^ Alan Turner & Mauricio Antón: Evolving Eden. An Illustrated Guide to the Evolution of the African Large-Mammal Fauna. Columbia University Press, New York, 2004. ISBN 0-231-11944-5
  3. ^ Borja Figueirido, Zhijie JACK Tseng, Alberto Martín-Serra, Skull Shape Evolution In Durophagous Carnivorans, Evolution 67(7):1975-93 · July 2013 DOI: 10.1111/evo.12059 · Source: PubMed
  4. ^ Malcolm C. McKenna, Susan K. Bell: in Columbia University Press, New York 1997, 631 Seiten, ISBN 0-231-11013-8
  • Jordi Agustí: Mammoths, Sabertooths and Hominids 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe, Columbia University Press, 2002. LCCN 2001-42251 ISBN 0-231-11640-3
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