Adelphailurus

Adelphailurus is an extinct genus of saber-toothed cats of the family Felidae and tribe Metailurini[1] which inhabited western North America during the Miocene, living from 10.3—5.33 Ma and existing for approximately 4.97 million years. [2]

Adelphailurus
Temporal range: Late Miocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: †Machairodontinae
Tribe: †Metailurini
Genus: †Adelphailurus
Hibbard, 1934
Species
  • †Adelphailurus kansensis
Range of Adrlphailurus based on fossil record

Taxonomy

Adelphailurus was named by Hibbard (1934). Its type is Adelphailurus kansensis. It was assigned to Felidae by Hibbard (1934) and Carroll (1988); and to Machairodontinae by Martin (1998).[3][4][5]

Morphology

It was a cougar-sized animal and may have had habits similar to those of a cougar. Its body had the same shape as a cougar except for a long and compressed upper canine. This would place this cat into the "false-sabertooth" group. Apart from that Adelphailurus had a retained upper second premolar, which is unusual for a cat.

References
  1. Turner, Alan; Antón, Mauricio (1997). The Big Cats and their fossil relatives. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10228-3.
  2. Paleobiology Database: Adelphailurus, Basic info.
  3. C. W. Hibbard. 1934. Two new genera of Felidae from the middle Pliocene of Kansas. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 37:239-255
  4. R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution. W.H. Freeman and Company
  5. L. D. Martin. 1998. Felidae. Evolution of Tertiary mammals of North America (eds. C. M. Janis, K. M. Scott, and L. L. Jacobs) 1:236-242


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