Metailurini

Metailurini

     Metailurini had longer canines than neofelids but smaller than true sabertoothed cats. The teeth are more conical than flat as well. Traditionally placed within the Machairodontinae, they count as members of the subfamily Felinae today.

     The Metailurini tribe existed from the Miocene to early Pleistocene. Most species have been found in Eurasia.

     Like most extinct cats, the majority of species in Metailurini are known primarily from fragments so the systematic position and taxonomy of these creatures is debatable. Metailurini are now accepted as being true members of Felidae and descended from Proailurus and Pseudaelurus.

The best known genera in this tribe are Dinofelis and Metailurus.

Dinofelis from the BBC's Walking With Beasts

Dinofelis were widespread in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America during the early Pliocene to the Early Pleistocene (5 million to 1.2 million years ago). Furthermore, some Late Miocene (8 million years ago) were discovered that bore a strong resemblance to Dinofelis, so this "Terrible Cat" was around for some time!

With its powerful front limbs, Dinofelis was built along the lines of a jaguar and probably hunted in similar terrains. Its canines were not as robust as those of most sabertooths and appear to be a cross between the long, flattened saber-teeth and the more conical teeth of modern cats. Because of this, Dinofelis is sometimes called a "false" sabertooth.

Dinofelis hunted mammoth calves, mastodons, baboons, homo habilis (one of our ancestors), Australopithecus (another ancestor), and other animals. It may have been its liking for eating primates - particularly our ancestors - that this ancient cat was named "Terrible."

Another metailurini, Metailurus has even more fragmentary fossils and we can't be sure of its range and distribution in Eurasia. Its fangs were longer than those of a modern clouded leopard, but still far smaller than those of a true sabertooth cat. Metailurus lived about 9 to 6 million years ago.

YOUR GUIDE TO THE EPOCHS:

PALEOCENE EPOCH - 65 million years - 55 million years ago. It is the 1st epoch of the Cenozoic Era and marks the beginning of the "Age of the Mammals". Marsupials appear as well as the first creodonts. By the late Paleocene, Miacis - the ancestor of all carnivora - appears.

EOCENE EPOCH - 55 million - 33 million years ago. Rodents are the predominant small mammal. Early horse, elephants, and rhinos appear. The earliest meateaters, the creodonts, include several catlike species known as the oxyaenids. The middle Eocene gives rise to carnivores: the nimravids, but they aren't true cats yet.

OLIGOCENE EPOCH - 33 million - 23 million years ago. It is the third and final epoch of the Paleocene period. True felines (Proailurus) first appear.

MIOCENE EPOCH - begins 23 million years - 5 million years ago. It is the first epoch of the Neogene period. It is also the longest epoch of the Cenozoic Era, spanning 20 million years. The nimravids go extinct near the end of the Miocene. Pseudaelurus is the last common ancestor for felines and the machairodontinae. The marsupial Thylacosmilus appears in South America.

PLIOCENE EPOCH - 5 million years - 1.8 million years ago. It is the second and final epoch of the Neogene period. Hyaenas, thylacoleo, and early sabertoothed cats appear.

PLEISTOCENE EPOCH begins 1.8 million years ago and concludes with the end of the Ice Ages, about 10,000 years ago. In the early Pleistocene, Thylacosmilus -unable to compete with Smilodon - becomes extinct. By the late Pleistocene, the severe climate contributes to massive megafauna extinctions including the sabertoothed cats and thylacoleo.

HOLOCENE EPOCH - 10,000 years ago- modern times. The last sabertooth cats and cave lions became extinct near the beginning of this period. Most modern wild cats are dangerously close to extinction now.

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