{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivores}} {{About|the extinct "false" saber-toothed cat Nimravus|the similarly named extinct saber-toothed cat|Nimravides}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = Late Eocene to Late Oligocene (Priabonian to Chattian) {{Fossil range|35.3|27.1}} | image = Nimravus gomphodus.jpg | image_caption = ''N. brachyops'' skull | taxon = Nimravus | authority = Cope, 1879 | type_species = †'''''Nimravus brachyops''''' | type_species_authority = Cope, 1879 | subdivision_ranks = Other species | subdivision = * ''N. intermedius'' <small>Filhol, 1872</small> }}
'''''Nimravus''''' is an extinct genus of "false" saber-toothed cat that lived in North America and Eurasia during the Eocene and Oligocene epochs 35.3—27.1 mya,<ref>{{Cite web |title=PBDB Taxon |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=332927 |access-date=22 July 2024 |website=paleobiodb.org}}</ref> existing for approximately {{Mya|35-27.1|million years}}. Not closely related to true saber-toothed cats, they evolved a similar form through parallel evolution. Fossils have been uncovered from western U.S. from Oregon to Southern California and Nebraska, and also from Eurasia from France to Mongolia.
thumb|left|''N. brachyops'' skull with canines piercing the leg bone of another specimen
==Description== ''Nimravus'' was around {{convert|1.2|m|ft|sigfig=1}} in body length. With its sleek body, it may have resembled the modern caracal, although it had a longer back and more dog-like feet with partially retractile claws. It probably hunted birds and small mammals, ambushing them like modern cats, rather than chasing them down. ''Nimravus'' competed with other false sabre-tooths such as ''Hoplophoneus''.<ref name=EoDP>{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D.|year=1999 |title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|publisher= Marshall Editions|location=London|page= 222|isbn= 1-84028-152-9}}</ref>
== Palaeobiology ==
=== Locomotion === ''Nimravus brachyops'' possessed an exceptionally high ankle gear ratio, which indicates that its foot extension performance emphasised speed over strength and would have made it capable of running at considerable velocities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Polly |first1=P. David |date=2 July 2020 |title=Ecometrics and Neogene faunal turnover: the roles of cats and hindlimb morphology in the assembly of carnivoran communities in the New World |url=https://bioone.org/journals/geodiversitas/volume-42/issue-17/geodiversitas2020v42a17/Ecometrics-and-Neogene-faunal-turnover--the-roles-of-cats/10.5252/geodiversitas2020v42a17.full |journal=Geodiversitas |volume=42 |issue=17 |pages=257 |doi=10.5252/geodiversitas2020v42a17 |bibcode=2020Geodv..42..257P |issn=1280-9659 |access-date=6 March 2026 |via=BioOne Digital Library}}</ref>
=== Palaeopathology === A ''Nimravus'' skull, found in North America, had been pierced in the forehead region, the hole exactly matching the dimensions of the sabre-like canine of ''Eusmilus''. This particular individual of ''Nimravus'' apparently survived this encounter, as the wound showed signs of healing. Another ''Nimravus'' fossil from Nebraska was described in 1959 by paleontologist Loren Toohey, and comprises a ''Nimravus'' skull with saber-teeth embedded into the humerus of another ''Nimravus'', indicating a fatal incidence of intraspecific combat.<ref>[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/dakota-badlands-used-host-wild-sabertoothed-pseudo-cat-battles-180957841/ The Dakota Badlands Used to Host Sabertoothed Pseudo-Cat Battles]</ref>
thumb|left|Restoration of ''Nimravus'' (far left) and other animals from the Turtle Cove Formation
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{commonscat-inline}}
{{Nimravidae}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q134562}}
Category:Nimravidae Category:Oligocene feliforms Category:Chattian genus extinctions Category:Rupelian genus first appearances Category:Oligocene mammals of Europe Category:Paleogene France Category:Fossils of France Category:Fossils of Germany Category:Fossils of the United States Category:Quercy Phosphorites Formation Category:Oligocene mammals of North America Category:Fossil taxa described in 1879 Category:Prehistoric carnivoran genera Category:Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope