Patriofelis

Patriofelis; Temporal range: 50.3–40.4 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Early to Middle Eocene
	Patriofelis ferox skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Oxyaenodonta
Family:	†Oxyaenidae
Subfamily:	†Oxyaeninae
Genus:	†Patriofelis; Leidy, 1872
Type species
	Patriofelis ulta; Leidy, 1870
Species
	†Patriofelis ferox; †Patriofelis ulta;
Synonyms[1]
	synonyms of genus: Aelurotherium (Adams, 1896) ; Limnofelis (Marsh, 1872) ; Oreocyon (Marsh, 1872) ; synonyms of speacies: P. ferox: Aelurotherium bicuspis (Wortman, 1901)[2] ; Aelurotherium latidens (Marsh, 1872) ; Aelurotherium leidyana ; Aelurotherium leidyanum ; Limnofelis ferox ; Limnofelis latidens (Marsh, 1872) ; Oreocyon latidens (Marsh, 1872)[3] ; Patriofelis latidens (Marsh, 1872) ; Patriofelis leidyanus (Osborn & Wortman, 1892) ; Patriofelis vorax ; ; P. ulta: Ambloctonus coloradensis (Matthew, 1909)[4] ; Patriofelis coloradensis (Matthew, 1909) ; Patriofelis compressa (Denison, 1937)[5] ; ;

Patriofelis ("father of cats") was a large, cat-like oxyaenid of middle Eocene, some 45 million years ago in North America. It was around 1.2 to 1.8 metres (3.9 to 5.9 ft) long, not including the tail, and weighed about 40–90 kg, making it around the same size as a modern cougar. It had short legs with broad feet, suggesting that it may have been a poor runner, but a quite good swimmer. As its close relative Oxyaena was a reasonably good climber, it is possible Patriofelis could climb as well (Robbins 2006). It is found in particular in the Bridger Basin of southwestern Wyoming and at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, in the U.S. state of Oregon.

References

Neal Robbins 2006, Paleontology Discussions, Patriofelis - A Creodont, August 2nd, 2006, 08:17 PM

Gallery

Restoration by Charles R. Knight

Skull of Patriofelis ulta

References

J. Alroy. (2002.) "Synonymies and reidentifications of North American fossil mammals."
J. L. Wortman. (1901.) "Studies of Eocene Mammalia in the Marsh Collection, Peabody Museum." The American Journal of Science, series 4 12:193-206
O. C. Marsh. (1872.) "Note on a new genus of carnivores from the Tertiary of Wyoming." The American Journal of Science and Arts, series 3 4(19-24):406
W. D. Matthew. (1909.) "The Carnivora and Insectivora of the Bridger Basin, middle Eocene." Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 9:289-567
R. H. Denison. (1937.) "The broad-skulled Pseudocreodi." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 37:163-257

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] J. Alroy. (2002.) "Synonymies and reidentifications of North American fossil mammals."

[2] J. L. Wortman. (1901.) "Studies of Eocene Mammalia in the Marsh Collection, Peabody Museum." The American Journal of Science, series 4 12:193-206

[3] O. C. Marsh. (1872.) "Note on a new genus of carnivores from the Tertiary of Wyoming." The American Journal of Science and Arts, series 3 4(19-24):406

[4] W. D. Matthew. (1909.) "The Carnivora and Insectivora of the Bridger Basin, middle Eocene." Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History 9:289-567

[5] R. H. Denison. (1937.) "The broad-skulled Pseudocreodi." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 37:163-257