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Pristifelis

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Pristifelis
Temporal range: late Miocene[1] 9–6 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Subfamily:
Genus:
Felis / Pristifelis
Species:
F. attica
Binomial name
Felis attica
Wagner, 1857

Felis attica is an extinct cat, of which the first fossil skull was excavated near Pikermi in Attica, Greece.[2] Fossils were also excavated near the Moldovan city of Taraclia.[3] F. attica was bigger in body size than a European wildcat but probably smaller than a serval. Due to size differences, it was proposed as type species for the genus Pristifelis proposed in 2012.[4]

Around 12 million years ago, the genus Felis evolved and eventually gave rise to many of the modern small cat species. Felis attica was a small lynx-like cat and one of the ancestors of the first modern Felis species, such as F. lunensis, which evolved around 2.5 million years ago during the Pliocene epoch.[5]

References

  1. ^ The Paleobiology Database Felis attica entry Accessed on 21 July 2011
  2. ^ Wagner, A. (1857). "Neue Beiträge zur Kenntnis der fossilen Säugetier-Überreste von Pikermi". Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 3: 153−170.
  3. ^ Riabinin, A. (1927). "Faune de mammifères de Taraklia. 1. Carnivora vera, Rodentia, Subungulata". Travaux du Musée de Géologie de Leningrad. 5: 75–134.
  4. ^ Salesa, M. J.; Antón, M.; Morales, J.; Peigné, S. (2012). "Systematics and phylogeny of the small felines (Carnivora, Felidae) from the Late Miocene of Europe: a new species of Felinae from the Vallesian of Batallones (MN 10, Madrid, Spain)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (1): 87–102. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.566584.
  5. ^ Johnson, W. E.; Eizirik, E.; Pecon-Slattery, J.; Murphy, W. J.; Antunes, A.; Teeling, E.; O'Brien, S. J. (2006). "The Late Miocene radiation of modern Felidae: A genetic assessment". Science. 311 (5757): 73–77. doi:10.1126/science.1122277. PMID 16400146. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)