Percrocutidae

Percrocutidae
Temporal range: Middle Miocene to Late Pliocene
Dinocrocuta gigantea skull cast, Zoological Museum in Copenhagen
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Superfamily: Herpestoidea
Family: Hyaenidae
Werdelin & Solounias, 1991
Genera

Percrocutidae is an extinct family of hyaenid feliform carnivores endemic to Asia, Africa, and Southern Europe from the Middle Miocene through the Pliocene, existing for about 8 million years.[1]

The first percrocutids are known from the middle Miocene of Europe and western Asia and belonged to the genus Percrocuta. Percrocuta already had large premolars, but did not carry such a massive bite as the later form Dinocrocuta, from the later Miocene.[2] Originally, these carnivores were placed with the hyenas in the family Hyaenidae. As of 2013, most scientists considered the Percrocutidae to be a distinct family - although usually as sister-taxa/immediate outgroup to Hyaenidae.[3] Sometimes it was placed with the family Stenoplesictidae into the superfamily Stenoplesictoidea. However, studies in the 2020s placed Dinocrocuta and Percrocuta as true hyaenids, invalidating the family Percrocutidae.[4]

  1. ^ Paleobiology Database: Percrocutidae basic information
  2. ^ Turner, Alan; Antón, Mauricio (2004). Evolving Eden: An Illustrated Guide to the Evolution of the African Large-mammal Fauna. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11944-5.
  3. ^ Figueirido, Borja; Tseng, Zhijie Jack; Martín-Serra, Alberto (2013). "Skull Shape Evolution in Durophagous Carnivorans". Evolution. 67 (7): 1975–1993. doi:10.1111/evo.12059. hdl:10630/32909. PMID 23815654. S2CID 23918004.
  4. ^ Xiong, Wuyang (2022-05-01). "New species of Percrocuta (Carnivora, Hyaenidae) from the early middle Miocene of Tongxin, China". Historical Biology. 35 (5): 799–820. doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2067757. ISSN 0891-2963. S2CID 248627038.