''Pseudaelurus'' is a prehistoric
cat
The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...
that lived in
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
in the
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 ...
between approximately twenty and eight million years ago. It is considered to be a
paraphyletic
Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...
grade ancestral to living
felines and
pantherines as well as the extinct
machairodonts (saber-tooths), and is a successor to ''
Proailurus
''Proailurus'' is an extinct felid genus that lived in Europe and Asia approximately 25–30.8 million years ago in the Late Oligocene and Miocene. Fossils have been found in Mongolia, Germany, and Spain.
Etymology
The generic name ''Proailurus' ...
''. It originated from Eurasia and was the first cat to reach North America, when it entered the continent at about 18.5
Ma ending a '
cat-gap' of 7 million years.
The slender proportions of the animal, together with its short,
viverrid
Viverridae is a family (biology), family of small to medium-sized feliform mammals, comprising 14 genera with 33 species. This family was named and first described by John Edward Gray in 1821. Viverrids occur all over Africa, in southern Europe, ...
-like legs, suggest that it may have been an agile climber of trees.
Species and distribution

''Pseudaelurus quadridentatus'' weighed about and was approximately the size of a
cougar
The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...
.
''Pseudaelurus guangheensis'' from the middle Miocene of
Gansu
Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...
(China) and ''Pseudaelurus cuspidatus'' from the middle Miocene of
Xinjiang
Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
(China) are reported.
[
]
Taxonomy and phylogeny
Traditionally, all the ''Pseudaelurus''-grade species from Europe, Asia, and North America have been assigned to a single genus, even though the paraphyletic nature of the group has often been noted. Several authorities have split ''Pseudaelurus'' into separate genera or subgenera, including '' Hyperailurictis'', ''Styriofelis
''Styriofelis'' is an extinct genus of Felidae known from the Miocene of Europe.
Taxonomy
In 1882, a species of ''Pseudaelurus'' from Europe was described as ''Pseudaelurus turnauensis''. Another species, ''Pseudaelurus lorteti'', was described ...
'', ''Miopanthera'' and ''Schizailurus''. These different groups of ''Pseudaelurus''-grade felids are often considered to have given rise to later felid lineages.
The genus ''Styriofelis'' was originally proposed in 1929 by Kretzoi for the species ''Pseudaelurus turnaeunsis''. Kretzoi also proposed the genus ''Hyperailurictis'' for the North American species ''Pseudaelurus intrepidus'', and ''Miopanthera'' for ''Ps. lorteti''. In 1964, Beaumont elaborated on Kretzoi's proposal and split ''Pseudaelurus'' into three separate genera: ''Pseudaelurus'' for the European ''Ps. quadridentatus'', ''Schizailurus'' for ''Ps. lorteti'', and ''Hyperailurictis'' for ''Ps. intrepidus''.[
]
Taxonomic history
In 1843, the paleontologist H.M. de Blainville published a description of a felid cranium and lower jaw fragment from Sansan, France. He assigned these fossils to a new species, ''Felis quadridentata''. The cranium was later reassigned to another species, but in 1850 the lower jaw fragment was assigned to a new genus by Paul Gervais as ''Pseudaelurus quadridentatus'', due to having certain primitive features.
In 1858, Joseph Leidy described the species ''Felis intrepidus'', from North America, and reassigned the species as ''Pseudaelurus intrepidus'' in 1869. After that discovery, another eight species of ''Pseudaelurus'' would be described in North America, but only five are still considered valid.[
In 1872, Henri Filhol described the species ''Pseudaelurus edwardsi'' from France, but the species was reassigned to the nimravid genus ''Eofelis'' in 2000.]
In 1882, a second species from Europe was described as ''Pseudaelurus turauensis'', and a third species, ''Pseudaelurus lorteti'', in 1899. The fourth European species, ''Pseudaelurus romieviensis'', was described in 1934. In addition, the species ''Pseudaelurus transitorius'' was described in 1892, but most later authors considered it a synonym of ''P. turnaeunsis''.[
In 1914, fossils from Africa were described and assigned to the species ''Pseudaelurus africanus''. However, the species was later reassigned, first to the genus ''Metailurus'', and then finally to '' Afrosmilus''.]
In Asia, the first description of ''Pseudaelurus'' was in 1910, when a fragmentary fossil was assigned to ''Pseudaelurus chinjiensis''; however, it was reassigned in 1915 to the new genus '' Sivaelurus''.[ The next appearance of ''Pseudaelurus''-grade felids in Asia wasn't until 1986, when a lower jaw fragment and some dental fragments were assigned to the species ''Pseudaelurus lorteti''. In 1990, the species ''Pseudaelurus guangheensis'' was described.] In 1998, a second Asian species, ''Pseudaelurus cuspidatus'', was also described. Both of the Asian species are known only from fragmentary fossils.[
In 1998, while measuring fragmentary fossils from the Hsanda-Gol locality in Mongolia, Robert Hunt referred a lower jaw fragment to ''Proailurus'' sp.; while this was reassigned to the nimravid genus ''Eofelis'' in 1999 instead, a 2004 review of felid material from other localities in Mongolia suggested that it could belong to ''Pseudaelurus cuspidatus'' instead, on basis of having similar features. However, the Hsanda-Gol specimen is dated back to the Oligocene, while ''Pseudaelurus cuspidatus'' is found solely in Miocene-aged localities. The same paper also described a pair of fragments (a lower jaw fragment and a metapodial) and attributed them to ''Pseudaelurus'' sp.]
In 2010, a review of the Felidae as a whole suggested that ''Pseudaelurus'' be split into three genera: ''Hyperailurictis'' for the five North American species, ''Styriofelis'' for two of the European species (''P. lorteti'' and ''P. turnaunensis''), and ''Pseudaelurus'' ''sensu stricto'' for ''P. quadridentatus''. The status of ''P. romieviensis'', ''P. guangheensis'', and ''P. cuspidatus'' was given as uncertain. In addition, ''Miopanthera'' and ''Schizailurus'' were recognized as junior synonyms of ''Styriofelis''.
In 2012, a new species ''Styriofelis vallesiensis'' was described based on a specimen found in Spain. However, a review of the species in 2017 concluded that it was sufficiently different from other ''Styriofelis'' species as to require a separate genus. It was thus reassigned to the new genus '' Leptofelis'' as ''Leptofelis vallesiensis''.
In 2017, a review of the species ''Felis pamiri'', which was named based on a snout fragment from Turkey and dated to the late Miocene, concluded that ''Felis pamiri'' and ''Pseudaelurus lorteti'' were likely closely related to each other, and ancestral to the ''Panthera'' lineage. Both species were reassigned to the genus ''Miopanthera
''Miopanthera'' is an extinct genus of '' Pseudaelurus''-grade felids.
Taxonomy
The genus ''Miopanthera'' was first proposed in 1938 by Kretzoi for the species ''Pseudaelurus lorteti''. ''P. lorteti'' had previously been described as such in 189 ...
'' as ''Miopanthera lorteti'' and ''Miopanthera pamiri''.
Phylogeny
The following cladogram is based on Piras et al. (2013) and illustrates the three more derived lineages that evolved from "''Pseudaelurus''" species.
References
*
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q132747, from2=Q27150052, from3=Q27150046, from4=Q27150048
Prehistoric felids
Miocene felids
Tortonian extinctions
Miocene mammals of Europe
Miocene mammals of North America
Prehistoric carnivoran genera
Burdigalian first appearances
Fossil taxa described in 1850