''Barbourofelis'' is an extinct genus of large, predatory,

feliform Feliformia is a suborder within the order Carnivora consisting of "cat-like" carnivorans, including cats (large and small), hyenas, mongooses, viverrids, and related taxa. Feliformia stands in contrast to the other suborder of Carnivora, Caniform ...

carnivora Carnivora is a Clade, monophyletic order of Placentalia, placental mammals consisting of the most recent common ancestor of all felidae, cat-like and canidae, dog-like animals, and all descendants of that ancestor. Members of this group are f ...

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

s of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Barbourofelidae Barbourofelidae is an extinct family of carnivorans of the suborder Feliformia, sometimes known as false saber-toothed cats, that lived in North America, Eurasia and Africa during the Miocene epoch (16.9—9.0 million years ago) and existed for a ...

(false saber-tooth cats). The genus was endemic to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

until its extinction during the

Tortonian The Tortonian is in the geologic time scale an age or stage of the late Miocene that spans the time between 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma and 7.246 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago). It follows the Serravallian and is followed by the Messinian. The Torton ...

, living from 13.6 to 7.3 Ma.

Taxonomy

''Barbourofelis'' was named by Bertrand Schultz, Marian Schultz and Larry Martin (1970) in honor of

Erwin Hinckley Barbour Erwin Hinckley Barbour (April 5, 1856 – May 10, 1947) was an American geologist and paleontologist. He was born near Oxford, Ohio, and was educated at Miami University and at Yale, where he graduated in 1882. He was assistant paleontologist to ...

, who died a few days before the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

was discovered. Its type is ''Barbourofelis fricki'' and is the type genus of the subfamily Barbourofelinae. It was reassigned to Hoplophoneinae by Flynn and Galiano (1982), then to

by Bryant (1991), and to

Nimravidae Nimravidae is an extinct family (biology), family of carnivorans, sometimes known as false saber-toothed cats, whose fossils are found in North America and Eurasia. Not considered to belong to the true cats (family Felidae), the nimravids are gen ...

by Schultz, et al. (1970) and Martin (1998).

Description

While the species ''B. fricki'' is thought to have been a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

-sized predator, having a weight comparable to an African lion, with limb bones indicating a muscular, robust body, other species in the genus, such as ''B. morrisi'', are believed to have been closer to the size of

leopards The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

. Species in this genus had the longest

canines Canine may refer to: Zoology and anatomy * a dog-like Canid animal in the subfamily Caninae ** ''Canis'', a genus including dogs, wolves, coyotes, and jackals ** Dog, the domestic dog * Canine tooth, in mammalian oral anatomy People with the surn ...

of all the barbourofelids, which were also flattened, indicating a high degree of specialization to its diet. These canines had a longitudinal groove on the lateral surface that has been described as a means of allowing blood from a wound they have inflicted to flow away. This groove more likely was an adaptation to make the canines lighter while maintaining their strength. Other notable traits include the presence of a postorbital bar, the presence of a ventrally extended mental process (bony extensions on either side of the lower jaw), and the shortening of the skull behind the orbits. It had a very robust constitution, with ''B. morrisi'' intermediate between the size of ''Sansanosmilus'' and ''B. fricki'', which is thought to have been a particularly large predator and the lagrest of all barbourofelids. Large individuals of ''B. fricki'' have been reconstructed with shoulder heights of around . The barbourofelids was probably very stocky in build, resembling a bear-like lion or lion-like bear. Based on its foot structure, species of ''Barbourofelis'' might have had a semi-plantigrade walking stance. ''Barbourofelis fricki'' also had a very small brain compared to its body size; its brain was similar in size to a

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...

's, indicating it was not as intelligent as later feliformes or true felids. ''Barbourofelis'' also had large carnassial teeth, meant for efficiently processing a carcass, indicating it lived in a highly competitive ecosystem or that it was social and would feed in a competitive, frenzied manner in order to eat as much as other members of its family group. Perhaps a combination of both scenarios was possible. The most extensive selections of bones found for this genus come from ''B. loveorum'' and have allowed further inference to the proportions of other members of the genus.

Paleobiology

Growth and development

The skeletons of juvenile ''Barbourofelis'' have been found, and examination of their skeletons indicates that the cubs would reach near-adult size before their milk sabers would begin to erupt. This indicates that they were dependent on their mother or potential family group until well into their second year. Such a long period of dependence would have likely led to situations in which near-adult cubs would have likely helped to restrain prey while their mother made the kill. Such behavior potentially was a foundation for more extensive social ties in later feliformes and felids.

Paleoecology

''Barbourofelis loveorum's'' environment in the

Love Bone Beds Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of meanings is that the love o ...

deposits (of

Clarendonian The Clarendonian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 13,600,000 to 10,300,000 years BP, a period of . It is u ...

Age) was a mixture of grassland, riverine forest, and marshes, in which it would have shared territory with herbivorous animals like the amphibious rhinoceros ''

Teleoceras ''Teleoceras'' (Greek: "perfect" (teleos), "horn" (keratos)) is an extinct genus of grazing rhinoceros. It lived in North America during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs during the Hemingfordian to the end of Hemphillian from around 17.5 to 4.9 mi ...

'', the

protoceratid Protoceratidae is an extinct family of herbivorous North American artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) that lived during the Eocene through Pliocene at around 46.2—4.9 Mya, existing for about 41 million years. Classification Protoceratidae was ...

Synthetoceras ''Synthetoceras tricornatus'' is a large, extinct protoceratid, endemic to North America ( Nebraska ) during the Late Miocene, 10.3—5.3 Ma, existing for approximately . Fossils have been recovered from Nebraska and Texas Texas (, ; Spa ...

'', the camel ''

Aepycamelus ''Aepycamelus'' is an extinct genus of camelids that lived during the Miocene 20.6–4.9 million years ago, existing for about . Its name is derived from the Homeric Greek , "high and steep" and κάμηλος – "camel"; thus, "high camel"; ''a ...

'', horses like ''

Neohipparion ''Neohipparion'' (Greek: "new" (neos), "pony" (hipparion)) is an extinct genus of equid, from the Neogene (Miocene to Pliocene) of North America and Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Ameri ...

'' and ''

Nannippus ''Nannippus'' is an extinct genus of three-toed horse endemic to North America during the Miocene through Pleistoceneabout 13.3—1.8 million years ago (Mya), living around 11.5 million years. This ancient species of three-toed horse grew up to 3 ...

'', and carnivores like the

machairodont Machairodontinae is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the family Felidae (true cats). They were found in Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Europe from the Miocene to the Pleistocene, living from about 16 million until ...

cat ''

Nimravides ''Nimravides'' is a genus of extinct saber-toothed cats that lived in North America during the Late Miocene, between 10.3 and 5.332 Ma. Despite its scientific name, ''Nimravides'' does not belong to the Nimravidae, but is a true cat, belonging ...

'', the dogs ''

Epicyon ''Epicyon'' ("more than a dog") is a large, extinct, canid genus of the subfamily Borophaginae ("bone-crushing dogs"), native to North America. ''Epicyon'' existed for about from the Hemingfordian age of the Early Miocene, to the Hemphillian of ...

'' and '' Osteoborus'', and the bear ''

Agriotherium ''Agriotherium'' is an extinct genus of bears whose fossils are found in Miocene through Pleistocene-aged strata of North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. This long-lived genus persisted from at least ~11.6–2.5 Mya. Materials from the late ...

''. During the following stage, the

Hemphillian The Hemphillian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 10,300,000 to 4,900,000 years BP. It is usually considered ...

, ''Barbourofelis fricki'' shared territory with the machairodont species '' Amphimachairodus coloradensis''. Both genera of machairodont, as well as the bear ''Agriotherium'' and the dogs ''Epicyon'' and ''Osteoborus'' would have presented competition to the barbourofelid, while any and all of the large animals present were potential prey species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q133084 Miocene feliforms Barbourofelidae Miocene mammals of North America Pliocene mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 1970 Prehistoric carnivoran genera