''Pangurban'' 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 ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

(the false saber-toothed cats), 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 ...

during the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

epoch (40–37 mya). It contains a single species, ''Pangurban egiae''. Occurring several million years before other named nimravids in North America, the discovery of this species suggests that hypercarnivores evolved and spread quickly after the warm middle Eocene.

Etymology

The namesake for the generic name ''Pangurban'' comes from the eponymous white cat in the anonymous 9th century Irish poem

Pangur Bán "" is an Old Irish poem, written in about the 9th century at or near Reichenau Abbey, in what is now Germany, by an Irish monk about his cat. , 'White Pangur', is the cat's name, possibly meaning 'a fuller'. Although the poem is anonymous, it ...

. The species name honors scientist Naoko Egi.

Description

''P. egiae'' would have been cat-like in many respects, though since 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 ...

is incomplete most description would require comparison with close relatives. Using tooth dimensions, the

body mass Human body weight is a person's Mass versus weight, mass or weight. Strictly speaking, body weight is the measurement of weight without items located on the person. Practically though, body weight may be measured with clothes on, but without shoe ...

was estimated to be . The species may have been the size of the smallest mountain lions. Due to the close relationship with the better known nimravid

Hoplophoneus ''Hoplophoneus'' (Greek: "murder" (phonos), "weapon" (hoplo)) is an extinct genus of the family Nimravidae, endemic to North America during the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene epochs (35–29 mya), existing for approximately . Taxonomy In 20 ...

, ''Pangurban'' may have had a similar appearance with a stocky build and a bony flange in its lower jaw to protect its saber-teeth.

References

Nimravidae Eocene carnivorans Eocene animals of North America Paleogene mammals of North America Rupelian genus extinctions White River Fauna Fossil taxa described in 2022 Prehistoric carnivoran genera {{paleo-carnivora-stub