Sthenictis
Sthenictis | |
---|---|
Sthenictis sp. (American Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Mustelidae |
Genus: | Sthenictis Peterson, 1910 |
species | |
| |
Synonyms | |
Brachygale Peterson, 1910 |
Sthenictis is an extinct genus in the weasel family (mustelids) endemic to North America and Asia during the Miocene epoch living from ~13.5—9.2 Ma (AEO) existing for approximately 4.3 million years.
Taxonomy
Sthenictis was named by Peterson (1910). It was assigned to Mustelidae by Peterson (1910) and Carroll (1988); and to Ischyrictini by Baskin (1998).
Morphology
Two specimens were examined for body mass by Legendre and Roth[1] 1988:
- Specimen 1 weighed an estimated 13.7 kg (30 lb)
- Specimen 2 weighed an estimated 5.98 kg (13 lb)
Fossil distribution
The oldest specimen was uncovered at Black Butte, Malheur County, Oregon.[2] Other locations are: Quatal Canyon, Ventura County, California, Kleinfelder Farm, Saskatchewan, Canada, Nebraska, Texas, Florida and in Inner Mongolia, in China.[3]
References
- ↑ S. Legendre and C. Roth. 1988. Correlation of carnassial tooth size and body weight in recent carnivores (Mammalia). Historical Biology 1(1):85-98
- ↑ PaleoDB collection 18825: authorized by John Alroy, entered by J. Alroy on February 18, 1993
- ↑ Tseng Z. J., O’Connor J. K., Wang X. & Prothero D. R. 2009. — The first Old World occurrence of the North American mustelid Sthenictis (Mammalia, Carnivora). Geodiversitas 31 (4) : 743-751.
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