Pristifelis
Temporal range: late Miocene[1] 9–6 Ma
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Skull of Pristifelis attica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: †Pristifelis
Salesa et al., 2012
Species:
†P. attica
Binomial name
†Pristifelis attica
(Wagner, 1857)
Synonyms

Felis attica Wagner, 1857

Pristifelis is an extinct genus of feline from the late Miocene. It contains a single species, Pristifelis attica. The first fossil skull of P. attica was excavated near Pikermi in Attica, Greece.[2] Fossils were also excavated near the Moldovan city of Taraclia.[3] It was also discovered in Maragheh, northwestern Iran.[4] P. attica was bigger in body size than a European wildcat but probably smaller than a serval. The species was first described as Felis attica by Johann Andreas Wagner in 1857. Due to size differences, it was proposed as type species for the genus Pristifelis proposed in 2012.[5]

Pristifelis attica was formerly considered ancestral to Felis,[6] but is now considered ancestral to Felinae more broadly.[7]

History and naming

The generic name Pristifelis is a combination of the Latin pristinus meaning "primitive", and felis meaning "cat".[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. ^ Mirzaie Ataabadi M., Fortelius M. (2016). "Introduction to the special issue "The late Miocene Maragheh mammal fauna; results of recent multidisciplinary research"". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. 99 (3): 339–347. doi:10.1007/s12549-016-0242-3. S2CID 133493026.
  5. ^ a b 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. S2CID 84912711.
  6. ^ 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. S2CID 41672825.
  7. ^ Bellani, G.G. (2020). Felines of the World: Discoveries in Taxonomic Classification and History. London: Academic Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-12-816503-4.


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