Biology:Miomachairodus
| Miomachairodus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | †Machairodontinae |
| Genus: | †Miomachairodus Schmidt-Kittler, 1976 |
| Type species | |
| Miomachairodus pseudailuroides Schmidt-Kittler, 1976
| |
Miomachairodus is an extinct genus of large machairodontine (saber-toothed cat) containing only a single species, Miomachairodus pseudailuroides. It is known from Miocene-age fossils in China and Turkey and persisted until the Late Miocene (early Vallesian).[1] Fossils of this machairodont have been found in the Vallesian-age Bahe Formation in Shaanxi, China, and Yeni Eskihisar in Anatolia. This Turkish site is of Miocene age and is well known for its pollen studies.[2]
History and naming
The genus was first named by paleontologist Norbert Schmidt-Kittler in 1976 based on the holotype, a partial skull from Akçaköy, Eşme District, Turkey, and a second specimen, a lower jaw from Yeni Eskihisar. The generic name Miomachairodus is a combination of Mio, referring to the Miocene when it lived, and Machairodus; the specific name pseudailuroides means "like Pseudaelurus".[3]
In 2022, material from the Guanigou fauna in the Linxia Basin was described as Miomachairodus sp., and the authors suggested that it represented a new species of Miomachairodus. The fossil, a partial maxilla from the early Late Miocene (early Bahean), represented the oldest known machairodontine in Asia. They refrained from definitively naming the species because it lacked the fourth premolar.[4] The fossil material had previously been assigned to Machairodus palanderi in 2013.[5]
Description
The Miomachairodus sp. from the Linxia Basin is known only from a single fossil (HMV2039), a partial maxilla with the first, second, and third incisors, the canine, and the third premolar present, as well as the alveolus of the second premolar and a broken fourth premolar. The incisors are small and the canine tooth has "distinct but small" serrations. It was distinguished from M. pseudailuroides by having a shorter diastema between the canine and third premolar, and in the differing morphology of the third premolar. The describing paper estimated it was a large carnivoran that weighed more than 100 kilograms (220 lb).[4]
Classification
A 2018 phylogenetic analysis recovered Miomachairodus pseudailuroides as basal to most of the rest of Machairodontinae.[6]
| Machairodontinae |
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References
- ↑ Miomachairodus in the Paleobiology Database
- ↑ Fortelius, Mikael. Geology and paleontology of the Miocene Sinap Formation, Turkey.
- ↑ Schmidt-Kittler, Norbert (1976). "Raubtiere aus dem Jungtertiär Kleinasiens" (in German). Palaeontographica Abteilung A 155: 107-113. https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/pala/detail/A155/70908.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jiangzuo, Qigao; Wang, Shiqi; Deng, Tao (2023). "Chronological framework and palaeoecology of Carnivora from the Linxia Basin, China". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 615: 111463. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111463. Bibcode: 2023PPP...61511463J. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018223000810.
- ↑ Deng, T., Hou, S. K., Xie, G. P., Wang, S. Q., Shi, Q. Q., Chen, S. K., ... & Lu, X. K. (2013). "Chronostratigraphic subdivision and correlation of the Upper Miocene of the Linxia Basin in Gansu, China". Journal of Stratigraphy 37: 417-427.
- ↑ Piras, Paolo; Silvestro, Daniele; Carotenuto, Francesco; Castiglione, Silvia; Kotsakis, Anastassios; Maiorino, Leonardo; Melchionna, Marina; Mondanaro, Alessandro et al. (2018). "Evolution of the sabertooth mandible: A deadly ecomorphological specialization". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 496: 166–174. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.01.034. Bibcode: 2018PPP...496..166P.
Further reading
- Viranta, S.; Werdelin, L. (2003). "Carnivora". Geology and Paleontology of the Miocene Sinap Formation, Turkey. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 178–193.
- Viranta, S.; Werdelin, L. (1999). Fossil remains of a primitive sabertooth cat (Miomachairodus pseudailuroides) from Anatolia (Abstr.) Abstracts of 79th Annual Meeting, American Society of Mammalogists.
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