''Leptofelis'' is an extinct genus of ''

Pseudaelurus ''Pseudaelurus'' is a prehistoric cat that lived in Europe, Asia and North America in the Miocene between approximately twenty and eight million years ago. It is considered to be a paraphyletic grade ancestral to living felines and pantherines ...

''-grade

felid Felidae () is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a felid (). The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to the dom ...

found in Spain.

Etymology

The generic name ''Leptofelis'' comes from the Latin words for swift, ''lepto'', and cat, ''felis'', essentially translating to "swift cat". The specific name ''vallesiensis'' was given because the species was found in localities of Vallesian age.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

''Leptofelis vallesiensis'' was first described as ''Styriofelis vallesiensis'' in 2012, based on several specimens from Batallones-1 and Batallones-3, a pair of Vallesian-age localities in Spain. The specimens included a partial but well-preserved skeleton and several skulls. However, a review of the species in 2017 concluded that it was sufficiently different from other ''Styriofelis'' species as to warrant a new genus, and was therefore reassigned as ''Leptofelis vallesiensis''.

Description

''Leptofelis vallesiensis'' is theorized to have had long and slender legs, and to weigh between , similar in size to a caracal or serval. It had certain adaptations intermediate between earlier felids, which were mostly arboreal or semi-arboreal, and later felids that lived mainly on the ground. Because of this, ''L. vallesiensis'' is theorized to have been mainly ground-living, though still climbing trees to escape.

Paleoecology

''Leptofelis'' seemed to prefer open woodland habitat, as evidenced by finds at

Cerro de los Batallones Cerro de los Batallones (''Hill of the Battalions'') is a hill at Torrejón de Velasco, Madrid, Spain where a number of fossil sites from the Upper Miocene ( MN10) have been found. Nine sites have been discovered with predominantly vertebrate fo ...

. As a predator at Batallones, it would have hunted small rodents, birds and other easily subdued animals. This cat was contemporaneous with such herbivores as horses like ''

Hipparion ''Hipparion'' (Greek, "pony") is an extinct genus of horse that lived in North America, Asia, Europe, and Africa during the Miocene through Pleistocene ~23 Mya—781,000 years ago. It lived in non-forested, grassy plains, shortgrass prairie or st ...

'', the hornless rhinoceros ''

Aceratherium ''Aceratherium'' (Greek: "without (a) horn" (keratos), "beast" (therion)) was a genus of rhinoceros of the subfamily Aceratheriinae that lived in Eurasia during the Miocene. Taxonomy ''Aceratherium'' was coined by Kaup (1832) for ''"Rhinocer ...

'', the gomphotherid mastodon ''

Tetralophodon ''Tetralophodon'' ("four-ridged tooth") is an extinct proboscidean genus belonging to the superfamily Elephantoidea. Taxonomy The genus ''Tetralophodon'' (meaning "four-ridged tooth") was named in the mid-19th century with the discovery of the ...

'', the suid ''

Microstonyx ''Microstonyx'' was an extinct genus of suid that existed during the Miocene in Asia and 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 h ...

'', silvatherid giraffes and boselaphine antelope. ''Leptofelis'' was also contemporary with the

Amphicyonid Amphicyonidae is an extinct family of terrestrial carnivorans belonging to the suborder Caniformia. They first appeared in North America in the middle Eocene (around 45 mya), spread to Europe by the late Eocene (35 mya), and appear in Asia, ...

Magericyon ''Magericyon'' is an extinct genus of Amphicyonid ("bear-dog") that lived during the Miocene 10-9 Ma (Vallesian Age) in what is now Spain. Description The appearance of this animal was vaguely similar to that of a particularly robust, large fel ...

'', machairodonts ''

Machairodus ''Machairodus'' (from el, μαχαίρα , 'knife' and el, ὀδούς 'tooth') is a genus of large machairodontine saber-toothed cats that lived in Africa, Eurasia and North America during the late Miocene. It is the animal from which the su ...

'', ''

Promegantereon ''Promegantereon'' is an extinct genus of machairodont from the Miocene of Europe. It is one of the oldest machairodont cat species in the Smilodontini and is believed to be an ancestor of ''Megantereon'' and ''Smilodon''. Description ''Promega ...

'', and ''

Paramachairodus ''Paramachaerodus'' is an extinct genus of saber-tooth cat of the subfamily Machairodontinae, which was endemic to Europe and Asia during the late Miocene from 15 to 9 Ma. ''Paramacheirodus'' is one of the oldest known true saber-toothed cat ...

'', the bear ''

Indarctos ''Indarctos'' is an extinct genus of bear, endemic to North America, Europe and Asia during the Miocene. It was present from ~11.1 to 5.3 Ma, existing for approximately . The oldest member is from Arizona (~11.1—7.7 Ma) and youngest is (~9.0 ...

'', and the small hyenid ''

Protictitherium ''Protictitherium'' ( gr. first striking beast) is an extinct genus of hyaena that lived across Europe and Asia during the Middle and Late Miocene, it is often considered to be the first hyaena since it contains some of the oldest fossils of th ...

''. All these carnivores were competition and with smaller animals like ''Protictitherium'', it would have competed directly against it. The larger carnivores were avoided, either by escaping up trees or through evasion and stealth. The environment of Batallones was a highly variable habitat, with scattered vegetation throughout open areas of grassland. These areas would provide both the necessary protection and ambush sites necessary to hunt successfully.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q48965927 Prehistoric felids Miocene carnivorans Miocene genus extinctions Prehistoric carnivoran genera Miocene mammals of Europe Fossil taxa described in 2017