''Fortunictis'' is a fossil genus of metailurin

machairodontine Machairodontinae (from Ancient Greek μάχαιρα ''machaira,'' a type of Ancient Greek sword and ὀδόντος ''odontos'' meaning tooth) is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the cat family Felidae, representing the earliest d ...

(saber-toothed)

felid Felidae ( ) is the Family (biology), family of mammals in the Order (biology), order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats. A member of this family is also called a felid ( ). The 41 extant taxon, extant Felidae species exhibit the gre ...

containing only one species, ''Fortunictis acerensis''. Both the genus and species were described by paleontologist Joan Pons-Moyà in 1987 based on material from Casa del Acero in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, which is dated back to the Upper

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 ...

(approximately 8.7 to 5.332 million years ago).

Discovery and naming

Spanish palaeontologist Joan Pons-Moyà described the genus and species in 1987 based on fossils from Casa del Acero in Spain. The generic name ''Fortunictis'' is a combination of ''fortuna'' and ''ictis'' meaning "wild cat". The specific epithet ''acerensis'' meaning "from Casa del Acera", the type locality. Further material assigned to ''Fortunictis'' was discovered at Venta del Moro in 2004.

Description

Pons-Moyà described the species' diagnostic characteristics as: curved, highly laterally compressed upper

canine teeth In mammalian oral anatomy, the canine teeth, also called cuspids, dogteeth, eye teeth, vampire teeth, or fangs, are the relatively long, pointed teeth. In the context of the upper jaw, they are also known as '' fangs''. They can appear more fl ...

; elongated crown and no

mesial This is a list of definitions of commonly used terms of location and direction in dentistry. This set of terms provides orientation within the oral cavity, much as anatomical terms of location provide orientation throughout the body. Terms ...

cusp on the third

premolar The premolars, also called premolar Tooth (human), teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the Canine tooth, canine and Molar (tooth), molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per dental terminology#Quadrant, quadrant in ...

; high, transversely compressed cusps on the fourth premolar and lower; and a highly compressed first molar with a long

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 ...

with a hypoconid cusp, but lacking the

metaconid 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 ...

cusp. A later study further noted that ''F. acerensis'' was a highly derived metailurin with a relatively slender

mandible In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

. It further described the upper canine teeth as more flattened, the upper and lower third premolars as very elongated, and both the third and fourth premolars as well as the first molar all narrower than the related ''Metailurus major''. A 2014 study of the species '' Yoshi minor'' and ''Yoshi garevskii'' describe the measurements of multiple metailurine teeth, including ''Fortunictis''. The length of the canines of ''Fortunictis'' were described as being >52 mm long, and a mesiodistal diameter of 17.9 mm. Which was noted to be much larger than the canines of ''Yoshi garevskii'' and comparable to those of ''Metailurus major'' and '' Stenailurus telihardi''. In a 2018 description of the small machairodont species '' Tchadailurus adei'', it is mentioned that ''Fortunictis'' is far larger, (50%) than the holotype specimen of ''Tchadailurus'', TM 112-00-99.

Classification

''Fortunictis'' was assigned to the tribe

Metailurini Metailurini is an extinct taxonomic tribe of large saber-toothed cats that lived in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America from the Miocene to the Pleistocene. The best known Metalurini genera are '' Dinofelis'' and '' Metailurus''. Metailurini ...

in the subfamily

Machairodontinae Machairodontinae (from Ancient Greek μάχαιρα ''Makhaira, machaira,'' a type of Ancient Greek sword and ὀδόντος ''odontos'' meaning tooth) is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the cat family Felidae, representing the ...

in its original description. A cladogram of the Metailurini from a 2018 phylogenetic analysis:

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q122026707, from2=Q122026852 Metailurini Miocene mammals of Europe Monotypic prehistoric carnivoran genera Fossil taxa described in 1987