''Longchuansmilus'' is an extinct genus of

saber-toothed cat Machairodontinae is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the family Felidae (true cats). They were found in Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Europe from the Miocene to the Pleistocene, living from about 16 million until ...

s of the tribe

Machairodontini Machairodontini is an extinct tribe of large saber-toothed cats of the subfamily Machairodontinae, that lived in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, during the Middle and Late Miocene. Description Machairodont means "knife-tooth" which pe ...

that lived in China during the

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million years ago) to 5.333 Ma. The ...

Etymology

The generic name "''Longchuansmilus''" is derived from the Longchuan River, which runs along the Yuanmou Basin, and σμίλη (smilē), dagger. The specific name honours Xingyong Zhang, who has helped greatly in the discovery and study of the fossils at the Yuanmou hominid site.

Palaeoecology

''Longchuansmilus'' would have coexisted with

proboscidea The Proboscidea (; , ) are a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family ( Elephantidae) and several extinct families. First described by J. Illiger in 1811, it encompasses the elephants and their close relatives. Fr ...

ns, the beaver '' Sinocastor'', the rodent '' Kowalskia'', the

flying squirrel Flying squirrels (scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini) are a tribe of 50 species of squirrels in the family Sciuridae. Despite their name, they are not in fact capable of full flight in the same way as birds or bats, but they a ...

'' Pliopetaurista'', the

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit s ...

'' Alilepus'', and the ape ''

Lufengpithecus ''Lufengpithecus'' () is an extinct genus of ape in the subfamily Ponginae. It is known from thousands of dental remains and a few skulls and probably weighed about . It contains three species: ''L. lufengensis'', ''L. hudienensis'' and ''L. k ...

.'' Animals found near the fossil include tapirs, insectivores, flying squirrels, bamboo rats, freshwater birds, fish, frogs, turtles, crocodiles, beavers, otters and terrestrial birds, all which point to a swampy or lacustrine environment.

References

Machairodontinae Fossil taxa described in 2022 Fossils of China {{Paleo-carnivora-stub