''Palaeogale'' is an extinct
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 ...
of carnivorous mammal known from the
Late Eocene
The Priabonian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age or the upper stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Eocene epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans ...
,
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...
, and
Early Miocene
The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages.
The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...
of North America, Europe, and Eastern Asia. A small carnivore often associated with the
mustelids, ''Palaeogale'' might have been similar to living
genets,
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, and
linsangs.
Time range
The ancestry of ''Palaeogale'' remains enigmatic. The genus appears in Europe 32 Ma, after the
Grande Coupure
Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to:
Places
* Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany
* Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas
* Grande-Rivière (disambiguation)
* Ar ...
, but 35-36 Ma-old (
Chadronian NALMA) specimens from Pipestone Springs, Montana, are the oldest known. ''Palaeogale'' survived until the late
Early Miocene
The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages.
The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...
of Europe and the early Early Miocene of East Asia.
noted that the ''Palaeogale'' specimens found in Mongolia are the most
plesiomorphic (p1 double-rooted, m2 relatively large, very small overall size) and that the genus probably originated there and migrated to Europe and North America.
Anatomy
''Palaeogale'' was the size of a small mustelid but had a hypercarnivorous dentition and its taxonomic position remains enigmatic. Its dental morphology includes both mustelid (reduced m2) and feliform (slit-like carnassial notch, loss of metaconid on m2, presence of parastyle on P4) features, and ''Palaeogale'' is typically placed in Carnivora ''
incertae sedis
or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...
''.
The body mass of ''Palaeogale sectoria'', one of the smallest species, has been estimated to much less than a kilo based on teeth sizes. It was probably
semifossorial. ''P. sanguinarius'' is slightly larger than ''P. dorothiae'' and probably equivalent in age.
Taxonomic history

When named the genus ''Palaeogale'' and two species (''P. pulchella'' and ''P. fecunda''), he only gave a very vague description of these taxa. described a related species, ''Mustela minuta'', which thought identical and named ''Palaeogale minuta'', a name that has remained accepted for the type species.

wrote that when described the North American species ''Bunaelurus lagophagus'', he distinguished the genus from the European ''Plesiogale'' (=''Palaeogale'' in part) based on differences in M
2. Simpson, however, thought this molar was "very closely similar" in both genera and synonymized Cope's genus with ''Palaeogale''.
described a skull which he referred to Cope's genus "''Bunaelurus''". The skull was found without lower jaws (on which all ''Bunaelurus'' specimens were based), but Matthew argued that the correspondence in horizon and size made the "identification reasonably safe." He nevertheless described it as a "''Palaeogale'' with a minute second molar still retained."
synonymized the then described ''Palaeogale'' species from Europe and North America into four taxa based on age occurrence, size difference, presence of M2, and loss of p1. Two species from Mongolia (''P. ulysses'' and ''P. parvula'') described by were synonymized by who argued that the smaller individuals most likely were female and the larger male members of the same species, like in modern mustelids.
created the infraorder
Aeluroida to accommodate ''Palaeogale'', ''
Ictidopappus'', and
Feloidea
Aeluroidea, Ailuroidea, or Feloidea is the name of a taxon (infraorder or superfamily) comprising cat-like Carnivora. More specifically the taxon comprises:Feliformia, Pan-Feliformia. In: R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evoluti ...
and argued that these taxa share some derived dental features not present in other feliforms, and retain some primitive dental features that have been modified in other feliforms. Flynn & Galiano, however, placed ''Ictidopappus'' as ''incertae sedis'' within this infraorder, and pointed out that the grouping of ''Palaeogale'' and the
Viverravidae in the superfamily
Viverravoidea was a hypothetical arrangement.
accepted ''Palaeogale'' as closely related to the family Viverravidae but, because it does not share any "unambiguous synapomorphies with either Feliformia or Caniformia", should be considered ''incertae sedis'' within Carnivora (together with ''
Stenogale'', another very small carnivoran.)
References
Notes
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External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7127159
Oligocene feliforms
Miocene carnivorans
Eocene genus first appearances
Burdigalian extinctions
Oligocene mammals of Europe
Paleogene France
Fossils of France
Quercy Phosphorites Formation
Oligocene mammals of North America