''Protictitherium'' ( gr. first striking beast) is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

hyena Hyenas or hyaenas ( ; from Ancient Greek , ) are feliform carnivoran mammals belonging to the family Hyaenidae (). With just four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the order Carnivora and one of the sma ...

that lived across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

during the Middle and Late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, it is often considered to be the first hyena since it contains some of the oldest fossils of the family. They were especially prolific in Turkey, where every species has been registered.

Description

''Protictitherium'' was akin to

civet A civet () is a small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests. The term ''civet'' applies to over a dozen different species, mostly from the family Viverridae. Most of the species's div ...

s both in size, being around 50 cm (19 inches) tall at their shoulder; and in weight, with calculations suggesting something around 4-8 kg (8-18 lb), with differences between species. It has been suggested that ''Protictitherium'' was a partly arboreal predator, due to their semi-retractable claws, perhaps to avoid larger predators . While they possessed somewhat large molars and premolars, their bite wasn't remarkably strong.

Species

There are generally three recognized species in the genus ''Protictitherium'', though there are some that suggest that species in the genus '' Tungurictis'' should be considered a part of ''Protictitherium''.

''Protictitherium crassum''

The

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

and largest species, it was originally recovered by

Charles Depéret Charles Jean Julien Depéret (25 June 1854 – 18 May 1929) was a French geologist and paleontologist. He was a member of the French Academy of Sciences, the Société géologique de France

in 1892 as a member of the genus '' Herpestes'' (''Herpestes crassus'') and it wouldn't be until 1938 that Kretzoi understood it as a new genus, erecting ''Protictitherium''. locomotive analysis of "P. crassum" suggest that, due to the proportions of its

humerus The humerus (; : humeri) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius (bone), radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extrem ...

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

pelvis The pelvis (: pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of an Anatomy, anatomical Trunk (anatomy), trunk, between the human abdomen, abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also c ...

, and

scapula The scapula (: scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on either side ...

, it wasn't adapted to an arboreal lifestyle, rather to a cursorial locomotion in open woodlands. This species existed from 17 to 5 million years ago through Europe and Asia. Despite having existed for over a million years it remained fairly unchanged; specimens separated by large stretches of time possess slightly different proportions of their first molar. Five species have been synonymized to ''P. crassum'': ''P. aegeum, P. csakvarense, P. gaillardi, P. llopisi, P. thesalonikensis'', and ''P. sumegense''. Its specific name, ''crassum'', means thick or robust in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Protictitherium cingulatum''

Originally described in 1976 by Schmidt-Kittler, it is neither the biggest nor smallest species in the genus. ''P. cingulatum'' possesses somewhat primitive characteristics in its mandible, like a higher

protoconid Many different terms have been proposed for features of the tooth crown in mammals. The structures within the molars receive different names according to their position and morphology. This nomenclature was developed by Henry Fairfield Osborn i ...

in relation to its

paraconid Many different terms have been proposed for features of the tooth crown in mammals. The structures within the molars receive different names according to their position and morphology. This nomenclature was developed by Henry Fairfield Osborn i ...

on its first molar. Its holotype hails from the Yeni Eskihisar formation, from the late Miocene of Turkey, where it coexisted with ''P. crassum'' for at least a million years, implying some manner of

niche partitioning In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition. Three variants of ecological niche are described by It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (for e ...

where ''P. cingulatum'' opted for an arboreal lifestyle. Its specific name, ''cingulatum'', means cingulate in

latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, in reference to its highly developed dental cingulum.

''Protictitherium intermedium''

The second species described by Schmidt-Kittler in 1976, it is known from localities in Çandir and Paçalar of Turkey's Middle Miocene. It possesses the typical mandibular characters of ''Protictitherium'' and is characterized by its further developed

talonid The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone tooth ...

in its first molar and a larger second molar. It seems to represent the ancestral condition of the genus, therefore it's often recovered as a common ancestor of the other species, hence its specific name ''intermedium'', intermediate in Latin.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q142046 Prehistoric hyenas Miocene feliforms Miocene mammals of Europe Pliocene carnivorans Pliocene mammals of Europe Prehistoric carnivoran genera