''Lokotunjailurus'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

saber-toothed cat 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 ...

s ( Machairodontinae) which existed in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

and Chad during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), 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 mea ...

epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided by ...

. ''Lokotunjailurus'' was about as tall as a lioness; about at the shoulder, but was much lighter in build due to its longer legs and more gracile body. Its

dewclaw A dewclaw is a digit – vestigial in some animals – on the foot of many mammals, birds, and reptiles (including some extinct orders, like certain theropods). It commonly grows higher on the leg than the rest of the foot, such that in digit ...

s were particularly large in proportion to its body and were bigger than those of a much larger lion, indicating it relied on them quite heavily for grappling with prey. In comparison, its claws on the second to fourth digits were smaller than those of leopards. The type species ''L. emageritus'' was documented by

Lars Werdelin Lars Werdelin (born 1955) is a Swedish paleontologist specializing in the evolution of mammalian carnivores. One area of interest has been the evolutionary interaction of carnivores and hominins in Africa. He received his Ph.D. A Doctor of P ...

based on fossils found at the

Lothagam Lothagam is a geological formation located in Kenya, near the southwestern shores of Lake Turkana, from Kanapoi. It is located between the Kerio and Lomunyenkuparet Rivers on an uplifted fault block. Lothagam has deposits dating to the Miocene- ...

site in Kenya. He described it as a large

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 ...

with an extremely long claw on one digit. He named the genus from the Turkana word for "cat" and the species from the word for "claw". Werdelin considered ''L. emageritus'' to be similar to ''

Homotherium ''Homotherium'', also known as the scimitar-toothed cat or scimitar cat, is an extinct genus of machairodontine saber-toothed predator, often termed scimitar-toothed cats, that inhabited North America, South America, Eurasia, and Africa during ...

'' in dentition and to represent a basal member of

Homotherini Homotherini is an extinct tribe (or subtribe) of carnivoran mammals of the family Felidae (true cats). The tribe is commonly known as scimitar-toothed cats. These saber-toothed cats were distributed en North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and So ...

. A second species ''L. fanonei'' was described from fossils found in the Toros Menalla Formation in the

Djurab Desert The Djurab Desert (''Djourab'', ) is a desert in northern Chad. Part of the greater Sahara desert, it makes up much of the area of Chad's Borkou region. The Koro Toro settlement and maximum security prison is situated on the eastern boundary of ...

of Chad. The deposits date to the Late Miocene (7 mya).

Paleoecology

In the Djurab desert in northern Chad in central Africa, ''Lokotunjailurus fanonei'' seems to have lived alongside fellow machairodonts '' Amphimachirodus kabir'', ''

Tchadailurus ''Tchadailurus'' is a genus of machairodontine felid from the late Miocene of Chad, Africa. Etymology The genus name ''Tchadailurus'' comes from Chad, the country where the original fossils were found, and the Greek ''-ailurus'', which means c ...

'' and early representatives of the genus ''

Megantereon ''Megantereon'' was a genus of prehistoric machairodontine saber-toothed cat that lived in North America, Eurasia, and Africa. It may have been the ancestor of ''Smilodon''. Taxonomy Fossil fragments have been found in Africa, Eurasia, and No ...

''. In addition to these other cats, animals such as crocodiles, primitive three-toed horses, fish, monkeys, hippos, aardvarks, turtles, rodents, giraffes, snakes, antelopes, pigs, mongooses, foxes, hyenas, otters, honey badgers, the elephantid ''

Stegotetrabelodon ''Stegotetrabelodon'' is an extinct genus of primitive elephantid with gomphothere-like anatomical features from the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene of Africa and Eurasia and the Arabian peninsula. The type species is ''S. syrticus'' of late Mioc ...

'' and the hominid ''

Sahelanthropus tchadensis ''Sahelanthropus tchadensis'' is an extinct species of the Homininae (African apes) dated to about , during the Miocene epoch. The species, and its genus ''Sahelanthropus'', was announced in 2002, based mainly on a partial cranium, nicknamed ' ...

'' providing ample food for these cats, indicating that there was enough biodiversity that four sabertooths could coexist.

References

Miocene felids Miocene mammals of Africa Homotherini Prehistoric carnivoran genera Fossil taxa described in 2003 {{paleo-carnivora-stub