Dinofelis

Dinofelis is an extinct genus of machairodontine, usually classified in the tribe Metailurini. It was widespread in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America from 5 million to about 1.2 million years ago. Fossils very similar to Dinofelis from Lothagam range back to around 8 million years ago, in the Late Miocene.

Dinofelis

Dmitry Bogdanov · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
MachairodontinaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Felidae
Life habit
scansorialPBDB, for Felidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 3.5 million years on record.

The record covers at least 5.333 Mya to 1.8 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Oligocene — about 0 of 53 occurrencesMiocene — about 9 of 53 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 26 of 53 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 18 of 53 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.1–6.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 5 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 6 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 9 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 10 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 9 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 6 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences5.333 Mya1.8 Mya23.5 Mya0 Mya

53 occurrences of Dinofelis on record, most of them in the Pliocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

53 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

21 formations

Varswater — 32.98°S, 18.15°EKoobi Fora — 3.59°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 4.31°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 4.28°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 4.18°N, 36.42°EBlanco — 33.70°N, 101.10°WBlanco — 33.77°N, 101.28°WVogel River Series — 3.20°S, 35.21°ENachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°ENachukui — 3.87°N, 35.71°EHadar — 11.14°N, 40.58°ESterkfontein — 26.02°S, 27.73°EKromdraai — 26.00°S, 27.75°EMakapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°ELukeino — 0.76°N, 35.88°ERingold — 47.00°N, 118.50°WMatabaietu — 10.55°N, 40.58°EVarswater & Bredasdorp — 32.98°S, 18.15°ENawata and Nachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EUSNO — 5.35°N, 36.17°ESwartkrans — 26.02°S, 27.72°ENawata — 2.90°N, 36.05°ENawata or Nachukui — 2.90°N, 36.05°EVenta del Moro-Villatoya — 39.48°N, 1.35°WAdu-Asa — 10.32°N, 40.25°EKhurdkabul — 34.32°N, 69.42°E

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The named rock units Dinofelis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 14 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Dinofelis and its relatives

Pliocene

Where Dinofelis and its relatives were recorded in the Pliocene.

Found in the same rock

799 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 49 sites for Dinofelis, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

40 references

Each of the 53 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 28 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Dinofelis

Credit
Dmitry Bogdanov
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Laser scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Dinofelis cristata · AMNH:F:AM:50445

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Credit
OVPP
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMachairodontinae through timeFormations of the PlioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Zdansky 1924