Felis lunensis
| Felis lunensis | |
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| Fragment of f. lunensis fossilized jawbone, at Museo di Paleontologia di Firenze | |
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| Species: | †F. lunensis
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| Binomial name | |
| Felis lunensis Martelli, 1906
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Felis silvestris lunensis | |
Felis lunensis (Martelli's cat) is an extinct felid of the subfamily Felinae. Around 12 million years ago, the genus Felis appeared and eventually gave rise to many of the modern small cats. Felis lunensis was one of the first modern Felis species, appearing around 2.5 million years ago in the Pliocene. Fossil specimens of F. lunensis have been recovered in Italy and Hungary.[1] Fossil evidence suggests the modern European wildcat Felis silvestris may have evolved from F. lunensis during the Middle Pleistocene.[2] This has resulted in F. lunensis occasionally being considered a subspecies of Felis silvestris.
The holotype specimen first described by the naturalist Ugolino Martelli in 1906 is now preserved in the collections of the University of Florence in Italy.[3]
References
- ^ a b The Paleobiology Database Felis lunensis entry Accessed on 14 March 2010
- ^ Yamaguchi, N.; et al. (2004). "Craniological differentiation between European wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris), African wildcats (F. s. lybica) and Asian wildcats (F. s. ornata): implications for their evolution and conservation" (PDF). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 83: 47–63. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2004.00372.x.
- ^ Cioppi, E.; Mazzini M. (1983). "Catalogue of type specimens in the vertebrate collections of the museum of geology and paleontology of the University of Florence (Italy). II: Carnivora, Felidae". Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturali Residente in Pisa. 90: 227–236.
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