Metailurus
{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivores}}
{{automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Tortonian - Late Pleistocene, {{fossilrange|8.7|0.126}}
| image = Metailurus_(Metailurus_sp)_Asenovgrad2.jpg
| image_caption = Metailurus skeleton
| taxon = Metailurus
| authority = Zdansky, 1924
| range_map = Metailurus_range.png
| range_map_caption = Range of Metailurus based on fossil record
| type_species = Metailurus major
| type_species_authority = Zdansky, 1924
| subdivision_ranks = Other Species
| subdivision =
- †M. boodon {{small|Belyaeva, 1948}}
- †M. major {{small|Zdansky, 1924}}
- †M. mongoliensis {{small|Colbert, 1939}}
- †M. ultimus {{small|Li, 2014}}
- †M. hengduanshanensis {{small|Zong et al, 1996}}
}}
Metailurus is a genus of saber-toothed cat in the family Felidae, and belonging to the tribe Metailurini, which occurred in North America, Eurasia and Africa from the Miocene to the Middle Pleistocene.{{cite book |last1=McKenna |first1=M. C. |last2=Bell |first2=S. K. |year=1997 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-11013-6 |pages=631 |title=Classification of Mammals: Above the Species Level }}{{Cite web |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=41062 |title=Fossilworks: Metailurus |website=fossilworks.org |access-date=17 December 2021}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dVcqAAAAQBAJ&q=Metailurus+north+america&pg=PA109 |title=Sabertooth |last=Antón |first=Mauricio |date=2013-11-22 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=9780253010490 |language=en}}
History and taxonomy
The genus Metailurus was described by Zdansky in 1924 for the two species Metailurus major and Metailurus minor.{{Cite journal|last=Zdansky |first=O. |date=1924 |title=Jungtertiare Carnivoren Chinas |journal=Palaeontologia Sinica, Series C |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=1–149}}
Metailurus mongoliensis was described in 1939.{{Cite journal|last=Colbert |first=E. H. |date=1939 |title=Carnivora of the Tung Gur Formation of Mongolia |journal=Bull Am Mus Nat Hist |volume=76 |pages=47−81}}
Metailurus boodon was described in 1948.{{Cite journal|last1=Belyaeva |first1=E. I. |date=1948 |title=Catalogue of Tertiary Fossil Sites of the Land Mammals in the U.S.S.R. Tr. Paleontol. Inst. |journal=An SSSR |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=1–116}}
Metailurus hengduanshanensis was described in 1996.{{Cite journal|author1=Zong G. F. |author2=Chen W. Y. |author3=Huang X. S. |date=1996 |title=Cenozoic Mammals and Environment of Hengduan Mountains Region |location=Beijing |publisher=China Ocean Press |pages=55−57}}
Metailurus ultimus was described in 2014.{{Cite journal|author=Yu Li |date=2014 |title=
Restudy of Metailurus major from Yushe Basin, Shanxi Province reported by Teilhard de Chardin and Leroy |journal=Vertebrata PalAsiatica |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=467–485|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271020687}}
Metailurus minor was reassigned to the felid genus Yoshi in 2015.{{Cite journal|doi=10.1007/s10914-014-9266-5 |title=A New Felid from the Late Miocene of the Balkans and the Contents of the Genus Metailurus Zdansky, 1924 (Carnivora, Felidae) |date=2015 |last1=Spassov |first1=Nikolai |last2=Geraads |first2=Denis |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=45–56 |s2cid=254704902 }}
Description
The canines of Metailurus are longer than those of even the clouded leopard, but significantly shorter than true saber teeth, and more conical than bladed.{{cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Alan |last2=Antón |first2=Mauricio |year=1997 |title=The Big Cats and their fossil relatives |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=0-231-10228-3}} A partial skeleton found in the Turolian site of Kerassia 1 consists of the jawbone, the anterior and posterior limb bone elements, and some sternal bones and some vertebrae. This is the most complete known of the species. Its dental material is comparative to those specimens from Pikermi, Chomateri, and China. The presence of elongated posterior limbs indicate that it had developed jumping skills.{{Cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2005.04.002 |title=An almost complete skeleton of Metailurus parvulus (Carnivora, Felidae) from the late Miocene of Kerassia (Northern Euboea, Greece) |date=2006 |last1=Roussiakis |first1=Socrates J. |last2=Theodorou |first2=George E. |last3=Iliopoulos |first3=George |journal=Geobios |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=563–584 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Machairodontinae}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q1002390|from2=Q121787783|from3=Q122127079|from4=Q122127214|from5=Q122127299|from6=Q122127340}}
Category:Prehistoric carnivoran genera
Category:Cenozoic mammals of North America
Category:Cenozoic mammals of Africa
Category:Neogene mammals of Asia
Category:Cenozoic mammals of Europe
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1924
{{paleo-carnivora-stub}}
{{feline-stub}}