Sansanosmilus

<i>Sansanosmilus</i>

Sansanosmilus

Extinct genus of carnivores

Sansanosmilus is an extinct genus of carnivorous mammal of the family Barbourofelidae (false saber-tooth cats) endemic to Europe, which lived during the Miocene, 13.65—9.7 mya, existing for approximately 3.95 million years.[1]

Quick Facts Sansanosmilus Temporal range: Late Miocene, Scientific classification ...

Taxonomy

S. palmidens and Necromanis

Sansanosmilus is a member of the family Barbourofelidae, a group of feliform carnivorans related to either felids[2] or nimravids.[3] It had short legs, was very muscular and had a long tail. Sansanosmilus was 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) long and probably weighed around 80 kilograms (180 lb). In 1961, paleontologist L. Ginsburg concluded that Sansanosmilus was possessed of a plantigrade walking stance, after studying its foot bones and comparing it with those of the true felid Pseudaelurus from the same site. This is different from later barbourofelids, which are believed to have had semi-plantigrade or semi-digitigrade stances.[4]

The type species, Sansanosmilus palmidens, is known from fossils from the Orleanian and Astaracian stages in France. Although Albanosmilus was seen as a junior synonym of Sansanosmilus from the 1970s onwards, Robles et al. (2013) demonstrated that the type species of Albanosmilus, S. jourdani (which they considered to be a senior synonym of S. vallesiensis), is more closely related to Barbourofelis than to the type species of Sansanosmilus and thus generically distinct.[5] Wang et al. (2020) agreed with Robles et al. (2013) in recovering Albanosmilus as closer to Barbourofelis than to Sansanosmilus.[3]

A further two species of Sansanosmilus (S. rhomboidalis and S. serratus) were described by G.E. Pilgrim in 1932 based on fragmentary fossils from the Siwaliks.[6] Sansanosmilus rhomboidalis was described further, with new material assigned, in 2022.[7]

References

  1. [1]
    Sansanosmilus in the Paleobiology Database
  2. [2]
    Morlo, Michael; Peigné, Stéphane; Nagel, Doris (2004). "A new species of Prosansanosmilus: implications for the systematic relationships of the family Barbourofelidae new rank (Carnivora, Mammalia)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 140 (1): 43–61. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2004.00087.x.
  3. [3]
    Wang, Xiaoming; White, Stuart C.; Guan, Jian (2020). "A new genus and species of sabretooth, Oriensmilus liupanensis (Barbourofelinae, Nimravidae, Carnivora), from the middle Miocene of China suggests barbourofelines are nimravids, not felids". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 18 (9): 783–803. doi:10.1080/14772019.2019.1691066. S2CID 211545222.
  4. [4]
    Anton, Mauricio (2013). Sabertooth. ISBN 9780253010421.
  5. [5]
    Josep M. Robles; David M. Alba; Josep Fortuny; Soledad De Esteban-Trivigno; Cheyenn Rotgers; Jordi Balaguer; Raül Carmona; Jordi Galindo; Sergio Almécija; Juan V. Bertó & Salvador Moyà-Solà (2013). "New craniodental remains of the barbourofelid Albanosmilus jourdani (Filhol, 1883) from the Miocene of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula) and the phylogeny of the Barbourofelini". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 11 (8): 993–1022. doi:10.1080/14772019.2012.724090. S2CID 85157737.
  6. [6]
    Pilgrim, G.E. (1932). "The fossil Carnivora of India". Mem. Geol. Sur. Ind. Palaeont. Ind. New Series. 18: 1–232.
  7. [7]
    Mahmood, Khalid (2023). "Barbourofelines from the Middle-Late Miocene of the Siwaliks, Pakistan". Pakistan Journal of Zoology. doi:10.17582/journal.pjz/20221013201049. S2CID 257513528.
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