''Hyainailouros'' ("

hyena Hyenas, or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ), are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the Carnivora and one of the smallest in the clas ...

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

") is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage of organisms or other evolving elements that is of mixed evolutionary origin. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as homoplasies, which are explained as a result of converg ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of hyainailourid hyaenodont mammal of the polyphyletic tribe

Hyainailourini Hyainailourini ("hyena-cats") is an extinct polyphyletic tribe of hyainailourid hyaenodonts from paraphyletic subfamily Hyainailourinae that lived in Africa, Asia and Europe during the middle Eocene to middle Miocene. Classification and phyloge ...

within

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

subfamily

Hyainailourinae Hyainailourinae ("hyena-cats") is an extinct paraphyletic subfamily of hyainailourid hyaenodonts that lived in Africa, Asia, North America and Europe during the middle Eocene to middle Miocene. Classification and phylogeny Taxonomy * Subfamily: ...

, that lived during the early to middle

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 ...

, of which there were at least three species spread across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. Closely related to other large African hyaenodonts such as ''

Simbakubwa ''Simbakubwa'' ("great lion") is an extinct genus of hyainailourid hyaenodonts from paraphyletic subfamily Hyainailourinae that lived in Kenya during the early Miocene. Etymology The name of this genus comes from Swahili language for "great lio ...

'' and ''

Megistotherium ''Megistotherium'' ("greatest beast") is an extinct genus of hyainailourid hyaenodonts from paraphyletic subfamily Hyainailourinae that lived in Africa. Etymology The name of this genus comes and . The name of species ''Megistotherium osteo ...

'', ''Hyainailouros'' walked with a semi-digitigrade stance and was probably capable of large, leaping bounds. Alongside its African relatives and the last members of the genus ''

Hyaenodon ''Hyaenodon'' (" hyena-tooth") is an extinct genus of carnivorous hyaenodont mammals from tribe Hyaenodontini, within subfamily Hyaenodontinae in family Hyaenodontidae,Malcolm C. McKenna, Susan K. Bell (1997."Classification of Mammals: Above t ...

'' from Asia, ''Hyainailouros'' was among the largest hyaenodonts that existed.

Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships of genus ''Hyainailouros'' are shown in the following cladogram:

References

Hyaenodonts Miocene mammals of Europe Miocene mammals of Africa Miocene mammals of Asia Prehistoric placental genera {{paleo-mammal-stub