Felis attica

Felis attica is an extinct cat, of which the first fossil skull was excavated near Pikermi in Attica, Greece.[2] Fossils were also excavated near the Moldovan city of Taraclia.[3] F. attica was bigger in body size than a European wildcat but probably smaller than a serval. Due to size differences, it was proposed as type species for the genus Pristifelis proposed in 2012.[4]

Felis attica
Temporal range: late Miocene[1] 9–6 Ma
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: Felis (?)
Species:
F. attica
Binomial name
Felis attica
Wagner, 1857

Around 12 million years ago, the genus Felis evolved and eventually gave rise to many of the modern small cat species. Felis attica was a small lynx-like cat and one of the ancestors of the first modern Felis species, such as F. lunensis, which evolved around 2.5 million years ago during the Pliocene epoch.[5]

References
  1. The Paleobiology Database Felis attica entry Accessed on 21 July 2011
  2. Wagner, A. (1857). "Neue Beiträge zur Kenntnis der fossilen Säugetier-Überreste von Pikermi". Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 3: 153−170.
  3. Riabinin, A. (1927). "Faune de mammifères de Taraklia. 1. Carnivora vera, Rodentia, Subungulata". Travaux du Musée de Géologie de Leningrad. 5: 75–134.
  4. Salesa, M. J.; Antón, M.; Morales, J.; Peigné, S. (2012). "Systematics and phylogeny of the small felines (Carnivora, Felidae) from the Late Miocene of Europe: a new species of Felinae from the Vallesian of Batallones (MN 10, Madrid, Spain)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (1): 87–102. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.566584.
  5. Johnson, W. E.; Eizirik, E.; Pecon-Slattery, J.; Murphy, W. J.; Antunes, A.; Teeling, E. & O'Brien, S. J. (2006). "The Late Miocene radiation of modern Felidae: A genetic assessment". Science. 311 (5757): 73–77. Bibcode:2006Sci...311...73J. doi:10.1126/science.1122277. PMID 16400146.


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