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Paramachaerodus

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Paramachairodus
Temporal range: Middle Miocene–Late Miocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class:
Mammalia
Order:
Carnivora
Family:
Felidae
Subfamily:
†Machairodontinae
Tribe:
†Smilodontini
Genus:
†Paramachairodus

Pilgrim, 1913
Species
  • †Paramachairodus orientalis
  • †Paramachairodus maximiliani
Synonyms

Pontosmilus Kretzoi, 1929[1] Protamphimachairodus Kretzoi, 1929[1] Propontosmilus Kadic and Kretzoi, 1930[1]

Paramachairodus (alternately Paramachaerodus) is an extinct genus of saber-tooth cat of the subfamily Machairodontinae, which was endemic to Europe and Asia during the late Miocene from 15 to 9 Ma.[2]

Paramachairodus is one of the oldest known true saber-toothed cats. A large number of fossils were discovered in Cerro de los Batallones, a Late Miocene fossil site near Madrid, Spain. One leopard-sized species is known, Paramachairodus orientalis from the Turolian. A second species, Paramachairodus maximiliani, has been considered a synonym of Paramachairodus orientalis by some authors,[3] but was considered a valid species in the most recent systematic revision.[1] That revision, based on an extensive morphological analysis, also determined that the species P. ogygia exhibited less derived sabertooth features than the other Paramachairodus species and should be assigned to a separate genus, Promegantereon.[1][4]

The animals were about 58 centimetres (23 in) high at the shoulder, similar to a leopard, but with a more supple body. The shape of its limbs suggests that it may have been an agile climber, and could have hunted relatively large prey.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Salesa, M. J., Anton, M., Turner, A., Alcala, L., Montoya, P., & Morales, J. (2010). Systematic revision of the Late Miocene sabre‐toothed felid Paramachaerodus in Spain. Palaeontology, 53(6), 1369-1391.
  2. ^ Paleobiology Database: Paramachairodus Basic info.
  3. ^ SALESA, MANUEL J.; ANTON, MAURICIO; TURNER, ALAN; MORALES, JORGE (2005). "Aspects of the functional morphology in the cranial and cervical skeleton of the sabre-toothed cat Paramachairodus ogygia (Kaup, 1832) (Felidae, Machairodontinae) from the Late Miocene of Spain: implications for the origins of the machairodont killing bite". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 144 (3): 363–377. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2005.00174.x.
  4. ^ Antón, Mauricio (2013). Sabertooth. Bloomington, Indiana: University of Indiana Press. ISBN 9780253010421.
  5. ^ Turner, Alan (1997). The Big Cats and their fossil relatives. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-231-10228-3.
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