Felis lunensis

Felis lunensis Temporal range: Pliocene to Pleistocene
Fragment of f. lunensis fossilized jawbone, at Museo di Paleontologia di Firenze
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Family:	Felidae
Subfamily:	Felinae
Genus:	Felis
Species:	†F. lunensis
Binomial name
†Felis lunensis Martelli, 1906
Synonyms
Felis silvestris lunensis Martelli's cat

Felis lunensis, or the Martelli's cat is an extinct felid of the subfamily Felinae.

Evolution and taxonomy

Within the bounds of 12 million years ago,  the genus Felis came about, giving rise to many of the contemporary small cats. Felis Lunensis  was among the first of the modern small cat, Felis, species. It first appeared 2.5 million years ago in the Pliocene era. The found fossil remnants of Felis Lunensis have been discovered in modern day Italy and Hungary. The evidence found in the fossils allows the deduction of the notion that the modern day European wildcat fossil evidence suggests the modern may have in fact evolved from F. Luensis during the Middle Pleistocene. This has in turn resulted in the idea that F. Luensis is a subspecies of F. Silvestris, and thus it is occasionally referred to as such.  

Alessandro Martelli was the first to describe the species of cat, F. Lunensis, in in 1906. This happened following a mandible being excavated in Pliocene deposits near Olivola in Tuscany, Italy The holotype specimen is now preserved in the collection of the University of Florence in Italy.

F. Lunensis is also called Martelli’s cat, coined as a namesake for the man who first described the species. It lived within the wilds of Europe but is Extinct in the modern era. The first of Martelli’s cats was thought to have lived during the Pliocene era and was larger than most wild cats at its time. Its hunting subject of choice was birds and small mammals, such as field mice or squirrels. In contemporary times its descendants have downsized in their stature, resembling closely the modern house cat.

Felis Lunensis is hailed as the ancestor of our modern day cats. Its general morphology allows it to compare well to the modern wildcat Felis silvestris, and though it is larger in size, it is still within the bounds of accurate comparison. “The height of the protoconid is also greater in the fossil specimen than modern samples, and its length relatively short in relation to total crown length.” (Lewis, Mark, et. al, 2010)

The found dental remains of the feline, Lunensis, is thought to be one of the earliest recorded presence of the lynx species in the British Isles. The presence of the smaller scale Lunensis dental remains alongside those found in the larger cat carnivora reflects on the environment and the diet of the extinct feline species. Its dental records are found to be strikingly similar in the modern day F. silvestris and shows its carnivore activity.(Lewis, Mark, et. al, 2010)

References

Lewis, Mark, et al. “The Larger Carnivora of the West Runton Freshwater Bed.” Shibboleth Authentication Request, Dec. 2010 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2010.06.022

Petronio, Carmelo, et al. “Review and New Data of the Fossil Remains from Monte Peglia (Late Early Pleistocene, Central Italy).” RIVISTA ITALIANA DI PALEONTOLOGIA E STRATIGRAFIA, 15 Oct. 2020, https://doi.org/10.13130/2039-4942/14413

Alexandra Powe Allred (May 14, 2014). Cats' Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Mysterious Mousers, Talented Tabbies, and Feline Oddities. Potomac Books. ISBN 9781612342931.

Nobuyuki Yamaguchi; Carlos A. Driscoll; Andrew C. Kitchener; Jennifer M. Ward; David W. MacDonald (September 2004). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 83 (1): 47–63. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2004.00372.x. S2CID 86414815.

Yamaguchi, N.; Driscoll, C.A.; Kitchener, A.C.; Ward, J.M.; Macdonald, D.W. (2004). (PDF). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 83: 47–63. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2004.00372.x.

Martelli, A. (1906). "Su due Mustelidi e un Felide del Pliocene Toscano" [About two Mustelids and one Felid of Pliocene Toscana]. Bollettino della Società Geologica Italiana. 25: 595–612.

Cioppi, E.; Mazzini, M. (1983). "Part II: Carnivora, Felidae". Atti della Societa Toscana di Scienze Naturali Residente in Pisa. Catalogue of type specimens in the vertebrate collections of the museum of geology and paleontology of the University of Florence (Italy). 90: 227–236.