| Ictitherium | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Skeletal mount,Tianjin Natural History Museum | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Hyaenidae |
| Subfamily: | †Ictitheriinae |
| Genus: | †Ictitherium Wagner, 1848 |
| Type species | |
| †Ictitherium viverrinum Roth & Wagner, 1854 | |
| Species | |
| Synonyms | |
Genus synonymy
Species synonymy
| |
Ictitherium (meaning "weasel beast") is anextinctgenus belonging to thefamilyHyaenidae and thesubfamilyIctitheriinae erected by Trouessart in 1897.[1]Ictitherium lived throughoutEurasia during theLate Miocene.[2]
Ictitherium were around 1.2 metres (4 ft) long, and looked more likecivets than modern hyenas, possessing a long body with short legs and a possibly shorttail.
It is speculated thatI. viverrinum was an opportunistic feeder,[3] and that it ate plants as well as medium-small mammals and birds.[4] It would have consumed bone, as itsteeth were much more suited forosteophagy than more basal hyaenids because itsHunter-Schreger bands (HSBs) were zigzag throughout theenamel with the exception of thecervix.[5]I. viverrinum occupied a similar ecological niche as and competed withHyaenictitherium wongii.[6]Ictitherium was a very successful and abundant genus, with multiple fossils often being found at a single site.[7]
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