Proailurus
| Proailurus | |
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| File:Proailurus.jpg | |
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| Genus: | †Proailurus Filhol, 1879
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| Species: | †P. lemanensis Filhol, 1879
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Proailurus was a prehistoric carnivore that lived in Europe and Asia approximately 25 million years ago in the late Oligocene and Late Miocene. A recent phylogeny[1] places it as a basal feloid, the superfamily that includes mongooses, civets, hyenas, and cats; however, some sources show it as a felid and a direct ancestor of cats.[2]
Proailurus was a compact and small animal, just a little larger than the domestic cat, weighing about a slender 20 lb (9 kg). It had a long tail, large eyes and sharp claws and teeth, with similar proportions to the modern viverrids. Like the vivverids, it was probably a tree-dweller.[3].
Proailurus may be ancestral to Pseudaelurus, which lived 20-10 million years ago and probably gave rise to the major felid lines, including the machairodontines, felines and pantherines.
References
- ^ Wesley-Hunt, Gina D. (2005). "Phylogeny of the Carnivora: basal relationships among the Carnivoramorphans, and assessment of the position of 'Miacoidea' relative to Carnivora". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 3: 1–28. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2005.00194.x.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Tom Rothwell: Phylogenetic Systematics of North American Pseudaelurus (Carnivora: Felidae). American Museum Novitates. Published by the American Museum of Natural History, New York,Number 2403, pp. 1-64, May 2003. online
- ^ Turner, Alan (1997). The Big Cats and their fossil relatives. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 25. ISBN 0-231-10228-3.