Жоғалған қысқа тісті мысықтар туысы - Paramachaerodus

Extinct genus of carnivores

Paramachaerodus is an extinct genus of saber tooth cat of the subfamily Machairodontinae, which was endemic to Europe and Asia during the Middle and Late Miocene from 15 to 9 Ma. A 2022 phylogenetic analysis suggested that the genus may be polyphyletic. but was considered a valid species in the most recent systematic revision.

The animals were about high at the shoulder, similar to a leopard, but with a more supple body. The shape of its limbs suggests that it may have been an agile climber, and could have hunted relatively large prey.

In 1913, Guy Ellcock Pilgrim named the new genus Paramachaerodus for the species Machaerodus orientalis, Machaerodus schlosseri, and Felis ogygia; at the time, however, he failed to designate a type species. In 1915 he described more material that he assigned to Paramachaerodus cf. schlosseri (two hemimandibles, GSI 140 and GSI 141), though Matthew (1929) noted that both of those specimens did not closely resemble others in the genus. He rectified the lack of a type species in 1931 by designating Paramachaerodus orientalis the type species, now including Paramachaerodus schlosseri as a junior synonym. In 2022, a new species Paramachaerodus yingliangi was proposed based on fossils from northeastern China; the same paper also proposed separating Paramachaerodus schlosseri as the new type species and moving P. orientalis and P. maximiliani to the resurrected genus Pontosmilus.

The position of Paramachaerodus within the Machairodontinae has been subject to much controversy, partially owing to the fact that many names have historically been proposed for it based on only scanty material. While Paramachaerodus is generally accepted as a close relative and probable forerunner of Megantereon and therefore an ancestor of Smilodon, the role Promegantereon played in this is still controversial. While researchers have generally favoured the classification of Promegantereon as a distinct genus starting in the early 2000's, it was still thought to be a close relative and potential ancestor of Paramachaerodus. Thus, Paramachaerodus' position within the Smilodontini was generally understood as intermediate, with Promegantereon as the first and Smilodon as the ultimate representative of that machairodontine tribe.

Based on the morphology of its humerus, P. orientalis is inferred to have been adapted for wooded environments.