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@5 MYA - @1.5 MYA
SPECIES:
Dinofelis abeli,
Dinofelis diastemata, Dinofelis paleoonca, Dinofelis barlowi, Dinofelis
piveteaui
SOUTH AFRICA
The Transvaal Museum in Pretoria: skulls
The South African Museum in Cape Town: series of mandibles
Dinofelis was a genus of cat about the size of a large leopard or small lion. Dinofelis was built like a jaguar with thick forelimbs. It couldn't chase prey, but more likely would grab hold of it's prey like a jaguar. Dinofelis is known from Eurasia, Africa, And North America. Dinofelis is sometimes referred to as a 'false saber-tooth', based on it's tooth shape which is somewhere between that of modern species and the true saber-tooths like Smilodon.
| Because of it's build, it is likely that Dinofelis lived in densely forested areas. Here is would be able to pounce on prey without a chase because it would have ample cover while stalking. A forested environment would also mean Dinofelis probably had a striped or spotted coat like a tiger or jaguar as camouflage. Dinofelis may have also had a dark coat as camouflage. This might explain the higher occurrence of melanism in leopards and jaguars that other big cats. |
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Another interesting note about Dinofelis is that samples have been found in the South African site of Kromdraii. This site has also yielded a large sample or our own ancestors, the Australopithecines. It is likely therefore that this cat was a predator of our own ancestors, and perhaps one reason hominids over time began living in the savannas. This might have been a behavioral change that allowed our ancestors to better avoid predators. An animal with sharp eyesight such as a hominid would probably better be able to see a predator hiding in the grass of a savanna than one prowling through dense forests.
Sources: The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives. Alan Turner. University of Columbia Press, New York. 1997.
