''Pannonictis'' is a genus of extinct mustelids. It is first known from the very

Late Pliocene Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

and survived until the end of the

Villafranchian Villafranchian age ( ) is a period of geologic time (3.5–1.0 Ma) spanning the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene used more specifically with European Land Mammal Ages. Named by Italian geologist Lorenzo Pareto for a sequence of terrestrial s ...

, and is most commonly recorded from deposits between 2.6 and 1.4 Ma. Remains of ''Pannonictis'' have been found throughout

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 ...

, from the

Iberian peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

to eastern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Taxonomy

''Pannonictis'' is closely related to another prehistoric genus, ''

Enhydrictis ''Enhydrictis'' is a genus of extinct mustelid, belonging to the subfamily Galictinae. The type species, and best known, is ''Enhydrictis galictoides'' from the Pleistocene of Sardinia and Corsica. Taxonomy The exact number of species of ''Enhy ...

''. At least three species are recognized; ''P. pliocaenica'', ''P. pachygnatha'' and ''P. nestii''. Another species known as ''P. pilgrimi'' is no longer valid, and most likely a synonym of ''P. pliocaenica''.

Description

As with many living mustelids, ''Pannonictis'' likely displayed pronounced sexual dimorphism. In fact, the small species known as ''P. pilgrimi'' is now often considered merely a female form of the larger ''P. pliocaenica''. ''P. nestii'' was the smallest and most slender species of the genus as well as the latest surviving member. ''P. pachygnatha'' is a more robust species, with specific dental and mandible differences. An otter-like aquatic lifestyle for ''Pannonictis'' is not likely, but it has been suggested it inhabited areas near river courses, much like their phylogenetic descendant, the living

grison A grison , , also known as a South American wolverine, is any mustelid in the genus ''Galictis''. Native to Central and South America, the genus contains two extant species: the greater grison (''Galictis vittata''), which is found widely in Sou ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from= Q3893367 Pliocene carnivorans Pleistocene carnivorans Prehistoric mustelids Pliocene mammals of Europe Pleistocene mammals of Europe Pliocene mammals of Asia Pleistocene mammals of Asia Prehistoric carnivoran genera