Quercylurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivores}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = Early to Late Oligocene (Rupelian to Chattian) {{fossil_range|28.8|27.2}} | image = | image_caption = | display_parents = 2 | genus = Quercylurus | species = major | authority = Ginsburg 1979 }}

'''''Quercylurus''''' is an extinct nimravid carnivora (or "false sabre-toothed cat") from the Early to Late Oligocene of France and Spain. Its fossils were found in Early Oligocene strata in Quercy. It is known with only one species '''''Quercylurus major'''''. ''Q. major'' was one of the largest nimravids ever known, as its fossils suggest it was similar in size to the modern-day lion.<ref name="Peigne">{{cite journal |last1=Peigne |first1=Stephane |title=Systematic review of European Nimravinae (Mammalia, Carnivora, Nimravidae) and the phylogenetic relationships of Palaeogene Nimravidae |journal=Zoologica Scripta |date=May 2003 |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=199–229 |doi=10.1046/j.1463-6409.2003.00116.x |s2cid=86827900 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1463-6409.2003.00116.x|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Currently there is only one described species within this genus, the type species, ''Q. major''. ''Q. major'' lived in the moist and humid forests of Oligocene Europe, alongside the much smaller, fellow nimravid ''Eofelis''.

==Taxonomy== ''Quercylurus'' was named by Ginsburg (1979), and initially assigned to Felidae by Carroll in 1988.<ref>{{Cite book |author=R. L. Carroll |title=Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution |date=1988 |publisher=W. H. Freeman and Company, New York |pages=1–698}}</ref> It would be placed as a member of Nimravidae, within the subfamily Nimravinae. ''Quercylurus'' was at one point classified as ''Nimravus intermedius major'', and then classed within the ''Dinailurictis'' genus. More recent research typically places ''Quercylurus'', ''Dinailurictis'', and ''Eofelis'' as closely related, but distinct genera representing a European clade of nimravids.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barrett |first1=Paul Z. |date=9 February 2016 |title=Taxonomic and systematic revisions to the North American Nimravidae (Mammalia, Carnivora) |journal=PeerJ |volume=4 |article-number=e1658 |doi=10.7717/peerj.1658 |issn=2167-8359 |pmc=4756750 |pmid=26893959 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Peigne" /> ''Quercylurus'' and ''Dinailurictis'' in particular share many similarities, with size being the chief distinguishing factor in some research.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=de Bonis |first1=Louis |last2=Gardin |first2=Axelle |last3=Blondel |first3=Cécile |date=10 September 2019 |title=Carnivora from the early Oligocene of the 'Phosphorites du Quercy' in southwestern France |journal=Geodiversitas |volume=41 |issue=15 |pages=601 |doi=10.5252/geodiversitas2019v41a15 |bibcode=2019Geodv..41..601D |s2cid=202670809 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Description==

''Quercylurus'' is considered the largest Nimravinae known, with remains indicating individuals roughly comparable to modern lions with mass estimates around {{cvt|200|kg|lb}},<ref name="Peigne3">{{cite journal |last1=Peigne |first1=Stephane |date=May 2003 |title=Systematic review of European Nimravinae (Mammalia, Carnivora, Nimravidae) and the phylogenetic relationships of Palaeogene Nimravidae |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1463-6409.2003.00116.x |journal=Zoologica Scripta |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=199–229 |doi=10.1046/j.1463-6409.2003.00116.x |s2cid=86827900 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> only barbourofelin ''Barbourofelis fricki'' grew larger.<ref name=Barrett21>{{Cite journal|last=Barrett|first=Paul Zachary|date=2021-10-26|title=The largest hoplophonine and a complex new hypothesis of nimravid evolution|journal=Scientific Reports|language=en|volume=11|issue=1|article-number=21078|doi=10.1038/s41598-021-00521-1|issn=2045-2322|pmid=34702935|pmc=8548586|bibcode=2021NatSR..1121078B }}</ref> ''Quercylurus'' somewhat resembled actual felines, with an elongated back and shortened snout, whilst having plantigrade limbs.<ref>Jordi Agusti and Mauricio Anton: ''Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids 65 million years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe'', Columbia University Press, 2002, pp.81-83</ref> The robust premolars suggests it may have included some bone in its diet.<ref name="Peigne3" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Nimravidae Category:Oligocene feliforms Category:Oligocene mammals of Europe Category:Paleogene France Category:Fossils of France Category:Quercy Phosphorites Formation Category:Monotypic prehistoric carnivoran genera