Adelphailurus
| Adelphailurus | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Hemphilium , Upper Miocene | ||||||||||||
| approx. 9 to 4.9 million years | ||||||||||||
| Locations | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Adelphailurus | ||||||||||||
| Hibbard , 1934 | ||||||||||||
Adelphailurus ( Greek ἀδελφός adelphós "brother" and αἴλουρος aíluros "cat") is a fossil genus of cats thatoccurredin western North America during the late Miocene . The only known species is Adelphailurus kansensis , which is best known for its upper jaw fragment from the Edson Quarry in the US state of Kansas .
features
Fossil material from Adelphailurus has so far only been found sparingly and in fragments. The finds belonging to the genus suggest a size comparable to that of today's puma . The dentition shows the genus as a primitive member of the Metailurini . Adelphailurus had two premolars in the upper jaw , a feature that is only found in early cats. The canine had both an anterior and posterior cutting edge. Postcranial skeletal elements are hardly known, so there are remains of the humerus , radius , ulna and isolated phalanxes.
Way of life
Paleoecological studies have shown that Adelphailurus lived in the late Miocene (locally stratigraphically called Hemphilium ) 9 to 4.9 million years ago in a savanna-like or steppe-like open landscape, which was inhabited by numerous large herbivores. The habitat was similar to that of today's Serengeti , but without achieving its high biodiversity .
Systematics
Internal systematics of the Machairodontinae according to Piras et al. 2018
| Machairodontinae |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Adelphailurus is assigned to the tribe Metailurini within the subfamily of the Felinae , of which few fossils are generally known. The genus is therefore a closer relative of today's cats. The genus was first described by Claude W. Hibbard in 1934, a front part of a skull with almost complete dentition, only the first right molar is missing, as a holotype (copy number KUVP 3462) from the Edson Quarry in Kansas . So far only one species, Adelphailurus kansensis, has been recognized; there may be remains of a second, not yet described species from WIkieup in Arizona and Optima in Oklahoma .
An upper jaw fragment found in South Africa , which was described as Felis obscura , shows surprisingly great similarities with the jaw finds of Adelphailurus despite the geographical distance . However, there are differences in the dentition.
literature
- Alan Turner: The big cats and their fossil relatives. Columbia University Press, New York NY 1997, ISBN 0-231-10229-1 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Jessica A. Harrison: The Carnivora of the Edson Local Fauna (Late Hemphillian), Kansas. Smithsonian Contribution to Palaeobiology 54, 1983, pp. 1-42
- ^ Blair van Valkenburgh: Trophy diversity in past and present guilds of large predatory mammals. Palaeobiology 14 (2), 1988, pp. 155-173
- ↑ Paolo Pirasa, Daniele Silvestro, Francesco Carotenuto, Silvia Castiglione, Anastassios Kotsakis, Leonardo Maiorino, Marina Melchionna, Alessandro Mondanaro, Gabriele Sansalone, Carmela Serio, Veronica Anna Vero and Pasquale Raia: Evolution of the sabertooth mandible: A deadly ecomorphological specialization. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 496, 2018, pp. 166–174, doi: 10.1016 / j.palaeo.2018.01.034
- ^ Gary S. Morgan and Richard S. White, Jr.: Miocene and Pliocene vertebrates from Arizona. In: AB Heckert and Spencer George Lucas (Eds.): Vertebrate Paleontology in Arizona. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 29, 2005, pp. 115-136
- ^ Gary S. Morgan, Daniel J. Koning, and Spencer George Lucas: Late Hemphillian (Late Miocene) vertebrate Fauna from the Black mesa Quarry, Chamita Formation, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. New Mexico Geological Society, 56th Field Conference Guidebook, Geology of the Chama Basin, 2005, pp. 408-415