Felis lunensis

Felis lunensis
Temporal range: Pliocene to Pleistocene[1] 2.5–.0781 Ma
Fragment of f. lunensis fossilized jawbone, at Museo di Paleontologia di Firenze
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: Felis
Species: F. lunensis
Binomial name
Felis lunensis
Martelli, 1906
Synonyms

Felis silvestris lunensis
Martelli's cat

Felis lunensis (Martelli's cat) is an extinct felid of the subfamily Felinae. Around 12 million years ago, the genus Felis appeared and eventually gave rise to many of the modern small cats. Felis lunensis was one of the first modern Felis species, appearing around 2.5 million years ago in the Pliocene. Fossil specimens of F. lunensis have been recovered in Italy and Hungary.[1] Fossil evidence suggests the modern European wildcat Felis silvestris may have evolved from F. lunensis during the Middle Pleistocene.[2] This has resulted in F. lunensis occasionally being considered a subspecies of Felis silvestris.

The holotype specimen first described by the naturalist Ugolino Martelli in 1906 is now preserved in the collections of the University of Florence in Italy.[3]

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, December 07, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.