| Miomachairodus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | †Machairodontinae |
| Genus: | †Miomachairodus Schmidt-Kittler, 1976 |
| Type species | |
| Miomachairodus pseudailuroides Schmidt-Kittler, 1976 | |
Miomachairodus is an extinctgenus of largemachairodontine (saber-toothed cat) containing only a single species,Miomachairodus pseudailuroides. It is mainly known fromMiddle Miocene-agefossils inTurkey and persisted until the earlyLate Miocene (Vallesian).[1] Fossils of this machairodont have been found in theVallesian-ageBahe Formation inShaanxi, China, andYeni Eskihisar inAnatolia. This Turkish site is of Miocene age and is well known for itspollen studies.[2]
The genus was first named by paleontologist Norbert Schmidt-Kittler in 1976 based on the holotype, a partial skull from Akçaköy,Eşme District, Turkey, and a second specimen, a lower jaw fromYeni Eskihisar. The generic nameMiomachairodus is a combination ofMio, referring to theMiocene when it lived, andMachairodus; the specific namepseudailuroides means "likePseudaelurus".[3]
In 2022, material from the Guanigou fauna in theLinxia Basin was described asMiomachairodus sp., and the authors suggested that it represented a new species ofMiomachairodus. The fossil, a partial maxilla from the early Late Miocene (early Bahean), represented the oldest known machairodontine in Asia. They refrained from definitively naming the species because it lacked the fourth premolar.[4] The fossil material had previously been assigned toMachairodus palanderi in 2013.[5]
TheMiomachairodus sp. from the Linxia Basin is known only from a single fossil (HMV2039), a partialmaxilla with the first, second, and thirdincisors, thecanine, and the thirdpremolar present, as well as thealveolus of the second premolar and a broken fourth premolar. The incisors are small and the canine tooth has "distinct but small" serrations. It was distinguished fromM. pseudailuroides by having a shorterdiastema between the canine and third premolar, and in the differing morphology of the third premolar. The describing paper estimated it was a large carnivoran that weighed more than 100 kilograms (220 lb).[4]
A 2018 phylogenetic analysis recoveredMiomachairodus pseudailuroides as basal to most of the rest of Machairodontinae.[6]
| Machairodontinae |
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{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Homotherini |  | |
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| Metailurini | ||
| Smilodontini | ||
| Incertae sedis: | ||