Dinictis
{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivores}}
{{Distinguish|Dinichthys}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Late Eocene (Priabonian)to Late Oligocene (Chattian), {{Fossil range|37.2|26.3}}
| image = Dinictis felina, South Dakota, USA, Early Oligocene - Royal Ontario Museum - DSC00117.JPG
| image_upright = 1.15
| image_caption = Skeleton from South Dakota, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
| taxon = Dinictis
| authority = Leidy, 1854
| type_species = †Dinictis felina
| type_species_authority = Leidy, 1854
}}
Dinictis is a genus of the Nimravidae, an extinct family of feliform mammalian carnivores, also known as "false saber-toothed cats". Assigned to the subfamily Nimravinae, Dinictis was endemic to North America from the Late Eocene to Late Oligocene epochs (37.2—26.3 million years ago), existing for about {{Mya|37.2-26.3|million years}}.[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=41039 PaleoBiology Database: Dinictis, basic info]
Taxonomy
Image:ExtmDinictis1921-029-11.jpg]]
Image:Dinictis felina fm.jpg]]
Dinictis was named by American paleontologist Joseph Leidy in 1854. Its type is Dinictis felina. It was assigned to the Nimravidae by Cope (1880);{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/101724295.nlm.nih.gov/page/840/mode/2up | title=On the extinct cats of America | date=1880 }} and to the Nimravinae by Flynn and Galiano (1982), Bryant (1991), and Martin (1998).J. J. Flynn and H. Galiano. 1982. Phylogeny of early Tertiary Carnivora, with a description of a new species of Protictis from the middle Eocene of northwestern Wyoming. American Museum NovitatesH. N. Bryant. 1991. Phylogenetic relationships and systematics of the Nimravidae (Carnivora). Journal of Mammalogy.
In a 2016 study, the genus was found to contain only the species Dinictis felina.{{cite journal|last1=Barrett|first1=P. Z.|title=Taxonomic and systematic revisions to the North American Nimravidae (Mammalia, Carnivora)|journal=PeerJ|date=2016|volume=4|pages=e1658|doi=10.7717/peerj.1658|pmc=4756750|pmid=26893959 |doi-access=free }}
Description
Dinictis had a sleek body {{convert|1.1|m|ft|abbr=on}} long, short legs {{convert|0.6|m|ft|abbr=on}} high with only incompletely retractable claws, powerful jaws, and a long tail. It was very similar to its close relative, Hoplophoneus. The shape of its skull is reminiscent of a felid skull rather than of the extremely short skull of the Machairodontinae. Compared with those of the more recent machairodonts, its upper canines were relatively small, but they nevertheless distinctly protruded from its mouth. Below the tips of the canines, its lower jaw spread out in the form of a lobe.
Dinictis walked plantigrade (flat-footed), unlike modern felids. Its mode of life was similar to that of a leopard. It was probably not so particular about its food as its descendants, since the reduction of its teeth was still in the early stages and Dinictis had not forgotten how to chew. In its own environment, it would have been a powerful predator.
Ecology
Image:Dinictis and Protoceras.jpg, Charles R. Knight]]
It lived in the plains of North America with fossils found in Saskatchewan, Canada and Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Oregon in the United States. Dinictis likely evolved from an early Miacis-like ancestor that lived in the Paleocene.
References
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}
Benes, Josef. Prehistoric Animals and Plants. Pg. 204. Prague: Artua, 1979.
{{Nimravidae}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q524436}}
Category:Paleogene mammals of North America
Category:Aquitanian genus extinctions