Amphictis

Amphictis
Temporal range: Late Oligocene–Middle Miocene
Skull of Amphictis antiqua
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ailuridae
Subfamily: †Amphictinae
Winge, 1896
Genus: †Amphictis
Pomel, 1853
Type species
†Amphictis antiqua
(de Blainville, 1842)
Other Species
  • †Amphictis ambigua (Gervais, 1872)
  • †Amphictis borbonica Viret, 1929
  • †Amphictis cuspida Nagel, 2003
  • †Amphictis milloquensis (Helbing, 1928)
  • †Amphictis prolongata Morlo, 1996
  • †Amphictis schlosseri Heizmann & Morlo, 1994
  • †Amphictis timucua Baskin, 2017
  • †Amphictis wintershofensis Roth, 1994

Amphictis is an extinct genus of ailurid that existed from the Late Oligocene to the Middle Miocene with fossils found in Eurasia and North America with a total of nine described species.[1] The interrelationships of the different species as well as their relationship to the other ailurids is not fully understood.[2] Usually Amphictis is classified in the basal monotypic subfamily Amphictinae, but there is no certainty as the genus could potentially be a paraphyletic with the Oligocene species A. borbonica being a potential sister taxon to the ancestor of the subfamily Ailurinae (today consisting just the red panda), while a Middle Miocene clade consisting of an anagenesis line from A. prolongata–to–A. wintershofensis–to–A. cuspida being closer to the ancestry of the now extinct Simocyoninae (with A. wintershofensis being the sister taxon to the clade). This is due to the nature of their plesiomorphic nature of their anatomy.[2]

  1. ^ Baskin, Jon A. (2017). "Additional carnivorans from the early Hemingfordian Miller Local Fauna, Florida". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 37 (2): e1293069. Bibcode:2017JVPal..37E3069B. doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1293069. S2CID 90182619.
  2. ^ a b Morlo, Michael; Peigné, Stéphane (2010). "Molecular and morphological evidence for Ailuridae and a review of its genera". In Goswami, Anjali; Friscia, Anthony (eds.). Carnivoran Evolution: New Views on Phylogeny, Form, and Function. pp. 92–140. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139193436.005. ISBN 978-0-521-73586-5.