Proailurus
{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivores}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Late Oligocene|Early Miocene}}
| image = Proailurus AMNH.jpg
| image_caption = Proailurus lemanensis skull
| taxon = Proailurus
| authority = Filhol, 1879
| parent_authority = Zittel, 1893
| type_species = †Proailurus lemanensis
| type_species_authority = Filhol, 1879
| subdivision_ranks = Other Species
| subdivision = * †Proailurus bourbonnensis Peigne, 1999
- †Proailurus major Peigne, 1999
}}
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 comes from the Greek {{lang|grc|πρό}} {{Transliteration|grc|pro}}, meaning 'before', and {{lang|grc|αἴλουρος}} {{Transliteration|grc|ailuros}}, meaning 'cat'.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} The specific name of P. bourbonnensis simply means "from the Bourbonnais".
Description
Proailurus lemanensis was a compact and small animal, just a little larger than the domestic cat, weighing about 20 lb (9 kg). It had a long tail, large eyes and sharp claws and teeth, with similar proportions to the modern viverrids. Its claws would have been retractable to some extent. Like the viverrids, Proailurus was at least partially arboreal.{{cite book |author1=Turner, Alan |author2=Antón, Mauricio |year=1997 |title=The Big Cats and their fossil relatives |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=25 |isbn=978-0-231-10228-5}}
Proailurus major is estimated to have been significantly larger, about 23 kg. The p4 tooth is stronger and the m1 is less elongated than in P. lemanensis.
Proailurus bourbonnensis was a smaller species, estimated to have been 7–10 kg. Of the teeth, the p1 is wholly missing, and the m1 was slightly less elongated and the m2 less reduced than in P. lemanensis.
Classification
The genus Proailurus was first described by Henri Filhol in 1879 for fossils found in the Saint-Gerand site in France. He named two species, Proailurus lemanensis, based on a mandible, and Proailurus julieni.{{cite journal |author1=Filhol, Henri |title=Étude des mammifères fossiles de Saint-Gérand le Puy (Allier) |journal=Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études, Section des Sciences Naturelles |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=1–252 |year=1879}} However, P. julieni was later placed in the genus Stenogale.{{cite journal |author1=Tielhard de Chardin, P. |title=Les carnassiers des phosphorites du Quercy |journal=Ann. Paléontol. |volume=9 |issue=3,4 |pages=1–90 |year=1915}}{{cite journal |author1=Viret, J. |title=Les faunes des mammifères de l'Oligocene Supérieur de la Limagne Bourbonnaise |journal=Ann. Univ. Lyon |series=Nouv. Sér. |volume=47 |pages=1–328 |year=1929}}
In 1882, Filhol described a third species, Proailurus medius.{{cite book |last=Filhol |first=Henri |title=Mémoire sur quelques mammifères fossiles des phosphorites du Quercy. |series=Ann. Soc. sci. phys. nat, Toulouse |pages=1–140 |location=Toulouse |publisher=Impr. Vialelle et cie|year=1882 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/163164#page/11/mode/1up |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.86309 |oclc=20838884}} In 1888, Schlosser made "P." medius the type species of the genus Haplogale.{{cite journal |last=Schlosser |first=M. |title=Die Affen, Lemuren, Chiropteren, Insectivoren, Marsupialier, Creodonten und Carnivoren des Europaischen Tertiars. |journal=Beitr. Palaontol. Osterreich-Ungamns |volume=7 |issue=Part II |pages=371–372 |year=1888 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/50738#page/157/mode/1up }} Haplogale media's placement was later confirmed by Robert Hunt's 1998 studies of aeluroid skulls.{{cite journal |author1=Hunt, Robert M. |title=Evolution of the Aeluroid Carnivora: Diversity of the Earliest Aeluroids from Eurasia (Quercy, Hsanda-Gol) and the Origin of Felids |journal=American Museum Novitates |year=1998 |number=3252 |hdl=2246/3156}}
In 1999, Peigné carried out a systematic review of the genus, naming another two species, P. bourbonnensis and P. major, in the process. P. major was based on a single specimen, a left mandible from Quercy and Mainz, while P. bourbonnensis was based on a number of lower mandibles and teeth, as well as a left maxilla.{{Cite journal |last=Peigné |first=Stéphane |title=Proailurus, l'un des plus anciens Felidae (Carnivora) d'Eurasie: systématique et évolution |journal=Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire naturelle de Toulouse |volume=135 |pages=125–134 |year=1999 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256846828}}{{Cite book |author1=Werdelin, Lars |author2=Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki |author3=Johnson, Warren |author4=O'Brien, Stephen J. |chapter=Phylogeny and evolution of cats (Felidae) |year=2010 |title=Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor1= D.W. Macdonald |editor2=A.J. Loveridge |pages=59–82 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266755142 |isbn=9780199234455}}
Distribution and species
Fossils of Proailurus lemanensis were first found in Saint-Gerand and later in Quercy. Robert Hunt, while measuring fragmentary fossils from Hasanda-Gol in Mongolia, placed a lower jaw fragment as Proailurus sp., but Peigne placed the fragment in nimravid genus Eofelis instead, which later authors supported, although at least one suggested the fragment could be assigned to Pseudaelurus cuspidatus instead.{{cite journal |author1=Rothwell, Tom |title=New Felid Material from the Ulaan Tologoi Locality, Loh Formation (Early Miocene) of Mongolia |journal= Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History|volume=285 |pages=157–165 |year=2004 |citeseerx=10.1.1.616.5669 |doi=10.1206/0003-0090(2004)285<0157:C>2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=85951519 |issn=0003-0090 }}
P. major and P. bourbonnensis are both known from a single locality each: P. major from Saint-Gérand-le-Puy and P. bourbonnensis from Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, Weisbaden-Amoneburg, and Budenheim (where it is the only Proailurus species known from the Mainz Basin).
{{Location map+ |World |float=right |width=400 |caption=Location of Proailurus fossil finds based on Paleobiology Database. Red, Proailurus lemanensis; orange, Proailurus sp.; yellow, Proailurus-like felid (Hunt, 1998).
|places=
{{location map~ |World |lat=50.0 |long=8.2 |label=Budenheim and Heßler quarries|position=top}}
{{location map~ |World |lat=41.3 |long=2.0 |mark=Orange_pog.svg |label=
|position=bottom}}{{location map~ |World |lat=45.3 |long=101.6 |mark=Orange_pog.svg |label=
|position=bottom}}{{location map~ |World |lat=46.3 |long=3.2 |label=
|position=left}}{{location map~ |World |lat=42.8 |long=-103.1 |mark=Yellow_pog.svg |label=
|position=left}}}}
Several fossils believed to be Proailurus-grade material have been found in North America, including the Ginn Quarry cat, known from a complete skull, which has dentition similar to Proailurus lemanensis but with a slightly larger skull. Robert Hunt also noted several specimens that he believed belonged to Proailurus-grade felids, including a pair from the Sheep Creek site in Nebraska, one a lynx-sized felid, the other closer in size to a leopard; another individual from an East Cuyumungue locality, possibly the same species as the larger Sheep Creek specimen; and another specimen from Echo Quarry. However, the larger Sheep Creek specimen, the East Cuyumungue individual, and the Echo Quarry specimen were all described and assigned to the species Hyperailurictis validus in 2001,{{cite journal |author1=Rothwell, Tom |title=A partial skeleton of Pseudaelurus (Carnivora, Felidae) from the Nambé Member of the Tesuque Formation, Española Basin, New Mexico |journal=American Museum Novitates |issue=3342 |pages=1–31 |year=2001 |issn=0003-0082 |doi=10.1206/0003-0082(2001)342<0001:APSOPC>2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=54211452 |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/2895/n3342.pdf?sequence=1}} and the smaller Sheep Creek material to Pseudaelurus skinneri in 2003.{{cite journal |author1=Rothwell, Tom |title=Phylogenetic systematics of North American Pseudaelurus (Carnivora: Felidae) |journal=American Museum Novitates |issue=3403 |year=2003 |pages=1–64 |url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/2829/v2/dspace/ingest/pdfSource/nov/N3403.pdf?sequence=1&sa=U&ei=0S79UNrkFJSGhQeUhIDIBQ&ved=0CBUQFjAA&sig2=r_VziMUyYLwJPQq_P43EJw&usg=AFQjCNEfHwEMGAy1RZq4OJi40dkySY-o7A |issn=0003-0082 |doi=10.1206/0003-0082(2003)403<0001:PSONAP>2.0.CO;2|s2cid=67753626 }} The Ginn Quarry cat was described, but not assigned to any taxa, in 2019; though the authors did state that "it should not be dismissed as a 'proailurine-grade' felid" and suggested placing it in Hyperailurictis (despite being considerably older than any known Hyperailurictis) or a new genus.{{Cite journal|author1=Lyras, G.A.|author2=Giannakopoulou, A.|author3=Werdelin, L.|title=The brain anatomy of an early Miocene felid from Ginn Quarry (Nebraska, USA)|journal=PalZ|issue=2|pages=345–355|year=2019|volume=93 |doi=10.1007/s12542-018-00444-9|s2cid=150052167 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12542-018-00444-9|url-access=subscription}}
Evolution
Proailurus is believed to have evolved from earlier ailuroid carnivorans such as Stenogale and Haplogale. It is a likely ancestor of Pseudaelurus, which lived 20–10 million years ago, and probably gave rise to the major felid lines, including the extinct machairodontines and the extant felines and pantherines, although the phylogeny of the cats is still not precisely known.{{cite journal |author1=Christiansen, Per |title=Phylogeny of the great cats (Felidae: Pantherinae), and the influence of fossil taxa and missing characters |journal=Cladistics |year=2008 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-0031.2008.00226.x |volume=24 |issue=6 |pages=977–992|pmid=34892880 |s2cid=84497516 |doi-access=free }}
Proailurus is largely considered to be the first "true" cat and the ancestor of the entire cat family. Most studies support this, placing Proailurus as the basal member of the Felidae.{{cite journal |author1=Rothwell, Tom |title=Phylogenetic Systematics of North American Pseudaelurus (Carnivora: Felidae) |journal=American Museum Novitates |issue=2403 |pages=1–64 |year=2003 |doi=10.1206/0003-0082(2003)403<0001:PSONAP>2.0.CO;2 |hdl=2246/2829|s2cid=67753626 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/292668 }} One 2005 phylogeny placed it as a basal member of the Feliformia,{{cite journal |author1=Wesley-Hunt, Gina D. |author2=Flynn, John J. |title=Phylogeny of the Carnivora: basal relationships among the Carnivoramorphans, and assessment of the position of 'Miacoidea' relative to Carnivora |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume=145 |issue=3 |pages=1–28 |year=2005 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2005.00194.x|doi-access=free }} but later studies do not support this.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Feliformia|Fel.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q132036|from2=Q22112446}}
Category:Oligocene mammals of Europe
Category:Prehistoric carnivoran genera
Category:Chattian genus first appearances
Category:Miocene genus extinctions
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1879