Biology:Ailurinae

Short description: Subfamily of carnivores

Ailurinae Temporal range: Middle Miocene–Recent PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Red panda (Ailurus fulgens)
Skull of Pristinailurus bristoli
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Ailuridae
Subfamily:	Ailurinae Gray, 1843
Tribes and genera
†Magerictis Ginsburg et al., 1997 Ailurini J. E. Gray, 1843 Ailurus F. Cuvier, 1825 †Pristinailurini Wallace & Lyon, 2022 †Pristinailurus Wallace & Wang, 2004 †Parailurus Schlosser, 1899

Ailurinae is a subfamily of Ailuridae (of which this is the only extant subfamily out of three). While it is represented by the extant genus Ailurus, there were a handful of genera whose fossils have been found across the Holarctic region. These include the Middle Miocene Magerictis of Spain , the Early Pliocene Pristinailurus of the United States of America and their sister taxon Parailurus of Eurasia and North America in the Pliocene. Unlike Ailurus which is a specialized arboreal bamboo forager, the extinct ailurine species were more generalized and spent their time foraging on the ground.

References

Wikidata ☰ Q20679566 entry