Dinaelurus
| Dinaelurus | |
|---|---|
| File:Dinaelurus crassus.jpg | |
| Holotype skull | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | †Nimravidae |
| Subfamily: | †Nimravinae |
| Genus: | †Dinaelurus Eaton, 1922 |
| Species: | †D. crassus
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Dinaelurus crassus Eaton, 1922
| |
Dinaelurus is a genus of the Nimravidae, an extinct family of feliform mammalian carnivores, also known as "false saber-toothed cats". Assigned to the subfamily Nimravinae, Dinaelurus was endemic to North America during the Oligocene epoch (32.6—27.2 mya), existing for approximately 5.4 million years.[1] Including supplementary materials
Taxonomy
[edit | edit source]Dinaelurus was named by George Francis Eaton in 1922, with a single species, Dinaelurus crassus. It was assigned to Nimravinae by Flynn and Galiano in 1982.[2][3] One specimen was found in the John Day Formation in Oregon.
Description
[edit | edit source]Dinaelurus had a skull extremely broad for its length and had conical teeth; it exhibited little or no development of sabertooth features and had more rounded cheek teeth with no serrated ridges. It had a relatively gracile skeleton[4] and may have had digitigrade feet.[5] It is believed that Dinaelurus was a cursorial predator that ran down its prey. This is suggested by the nimravid's short face[4] and large nostrils, similar to those of a cheetah, which is also a cursorial predator.[5]
Sources
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Flynn, John J. and Henry Galiano. 1982. Phylogeny of early Tertiary Carnivora, with a description of a new species of Protictis from the middle Eocene of northwestern Wyoming. American Museum Novitates.
- ^ Martin, Larry D. 1998. "Nimravidae." In Christine M. Janis, Kathleen M. Scott, Louis L. Jacobs (eds.), Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. 2 volumes (1998-2008).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Martin 1998, p. 228.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20080620030107/http://home.earthlink.net/~ratha13/id5.html
- https://archive.today/20130201060334/http://www.rathascourage.com/research.html
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