Dinaelurus

Dinaelurus
Temporal range: Late Eocene–Late Miocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Nimravidae
Subfamily: Nimravinae
Genus: Dinaelurus
Species: D. crassus
Binomial name
Dinaelurus crassus

Dinaelurus is a genus of the Nimravidae, an extinct family of feliform mammalian carnivores, also known as "false saber-toothed cats". Assigned to subfamily Nimravinae, Dinaelurus was endemic to North America during the Eocene-Oligocene epochs (30.8—20.6 mya), existing for approximately 10.2 million years.[1]

Taxonomy

Dinaelurus was named by George Francis Eaton (1922). Its type is Dinaelurus crassus. It was assigned to Nimravinae by Flynn and Galiano (1982) and Bryant (1991); and to Nimravidae by Eaton (1922) and Larry D. Martin (1998).[2][3]

Fossil distribution

One specimen was found in the John Day Formation in Oregon and was described by Eaton in 1922.

Description

Dinaelurus had a skull extremely broad for its length and had conical teeth; it could exhibit little or no development of sabertooth features and had more rounded cheek teeth with no serrated ridges. It had a relatively gracile skeleton.[4] Martin hypothesizes that it had digitigrade feet.[5]

Behavior

It is believed that Dinaelurus was a cursorial predator, meaning it 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, as Martin suggests.[6]

In popular culture

Dinaelurus crassus is the ancestor of the fictional species, Dinaelurus illumina sapiens, in the Ratha or "Named" series by author Clare Bell. The animals are however frequently misidentified as felines in descriptions.

Here is a link to an artist's representation of Dinaelurus.

Sources

  1. ↑ PaleoBiology Database: Dinaelurus, basic info
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ 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).
  4. 1 2 Bryant, Harold N. (1996). "Nimravidae". In Donald R. Prothero and Robert J. Emry. The Terrestrial Eocene-Oligocene Transition in North America. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 468. ISBN 0521433878.
  5. ↑ Martin 1998, p. 228.
  6. ↑ Martin 1998, p. 228.
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