Taotienimravus
| Taotienimravus Temporal range: Middle Oligocene
| |
|---|---|
| Restoration of Taotienimravus songi | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | †Nimravidae |
| Subfamily: | †Nimravinae |
| Genus: | †Taotienimravus Jiangzuo et al., 2025 |
| Species: | †T. songi
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Taotienimravus songi Jiangzuo et al., 2025
| |
Taotienimravus is an extinct genus of false saber tooth cats (Nimravinae) that lived in Eastern Asia during the middle Oligocene epoch. Currently only species in this genus is Taotienimravus songi making it a monotypic genus. Its lack of saber teeth and bone-cracking adaptations make Taotienimravus unique among Nimravidae.[1]
Phylogenetic analysis show that it is closely related to Nimravus and Dinaelurus. Genera like Taotienimravus show that with the extinction of many carnivorous groups like Oxyaenidae opened ecological niches to allow more members of Carnivora to fill those niches.[1]
References
- ^ a b Jiangzuo, Qigao; Lyras, Georgios; Grohe, Camille; Werdelin, Lars; Niu, Kecheng; Huang, Dongting; Li, Shijie; Jiang, Hao; Fu, Jiao; Wan, Yang; Liu, Jinyi; Wang, Shi-Qi; Deng, Tao (November 2025). "A new ecomorph of Nimravidae, and the early macrocarnivorous niche exploration in Carnivora". Proceedings. Biological Sciences. 292 (2059) 20251686. doi:10.1098/rspb.2025.1686. ISSN 1471-2954. PMC 12646760. PMID 41290163.