#patriofelis

[antiqueanimals]

The Evolution of the Mammals. Written by L. B. Halstead. Illustration by Sergio. 1978.

Internet Archive

[alphynix]

It Came From The Wastebasket #08: Stem-Carnivoramorphs Do What Creodon't

Creodonts were some of the earliest predatory placental mammals to evolve after the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs, first appearing in the mid-Paleocene about 60 million years ago. Represented by two main lineages – the oxyaenids and the hyaenodonts – they ranged across North America, Eurasia, and Africa, and were the dominant large carnivorous mammals until the end of the Eocene (~34 million years ago), with forms like Sarkastodon being some of the biggest mammalian land predators of all time.

After that point they started to decline over most of their range, gradually being replaced by early carnivorans – but the hyaenodonts retained their dominance for a while longer in Africa, diversifying during the Oligocene and early Miocene and producing more giant apex predators. The last known representatives of these animals survived in Asia until the late Miocene, just 9 million years ago, ending an impressive run that had lasted for most of the Cenozoic.

This grouping was originally named in the 1870s to encompass just the oxyaenids and Didymictis (a genus now considered to be a viverravid). Just a few years later hyaenodonts, miacids, arctocyonids, leptictids, and mesonychids were all lumped in, too – and at one point creodonts were even a part of the massive insectivoran mess before instead being classified as ancestors of the carnivorans.

During the first half of the 20th century creodonts were recognized as actually being a loose collection of mostly-unrelated mammals, and over the next few decades various groups were gradually removed and reassigned to other parts of the mammal family tree. Towards the end of the century most of the creodont wastebasket had been cleared, and just the oxyaenids and the hyaenodonts were left as two branches of one seemingly distinct creodont lineage.

The cougar-sized oxyaenid Patriofelis ferox (left) & the bear-sized hyaenodont Hyaenodon gigas (right)

…But their evolutionary relationships were still a problem.

They'd been traditionally considered to be early carnivorans, but although they had flesh-slicing carnassials the creodonts' versions of these teeth weren't quite right. Different teeth in their jaws had been specialized for this function compared to those of true carnivorans – with oxyaenids and hyaenodonts having slightly different arrangements compared to each other, too – suggesting a lot of convergent evolution rather than shared ancestry.

By the 1990s it wasn't clear anymore if the oxyaenids and hyaenodonts were even closely related to each other, or what type of mammal they actually were.

But over the last couple of decades the consensus seems to have become that creodonts weren't a single natural group, but that they were still related to carnivorans – oxyaenids and hyaenodonts were actually two separate offshoots of the Ferae, forming an evolutionary grade of stem lineages between pangolins and the carnivoramorphs.

———

Nix Illustration | Tumblr | Twitter | Patreon

[flaviastrani]

A quick reconstruction of Patriofelis, a cougar-sized oxyaenid that lived in North America during the Eocene.  

ArtStation / Twitter

[rustandsky]

“ Fallen “

Do you walk in the valley of kings? Do you walk in the shadow of men Who sold their lives to a dream?

Collab with my spouse <3 I did the sketch, they made it amazing with their digital art powers!

[sciencetoastudent]

Patriofelis ulta @nhmu. #nhmu #naturalhistorymuseumofutah #patriofelis #patriofelisulta #mammal #cat #notcat #science #paleontology #zoology #biology #mammalogy #utah #saltlakecity #paleo #fossil #animal #animals (at Natural History Museum of Utah)

[4shfur]

more naming symbolism in Darkwing

-  Patriofelis is actually a genus of cat-like carnivorous Mammals from the family Oxyaenidae

- the felids tend to reference prehistoric cat-like animals a lot. Miacis and Panthera are examples of this

- I also noticed a trend in the names of Dusk's family? A Mistral is a northwestern wind, and Auster means "south wind".

- A Sylph is a type of wind spirit sort of thing, and I know I already said Icaron's name was a reference to Icaronycteris, but it could also be referencing Icarus from greek mythology. The Silverwing books tend to reference mythology a ton already.

- And this last one is speculation, but I think maybe Nova's name has meaning too? A nova is a newly visible star/nebula, and it contains the latin root nov-, which means new. I might be looking too deep into this, but perhaps its alluding to how she is one of the chiroptera that doesnt agree with leaving the pact, and wants to join Gyrokus, which is new to the colony? I don't know.

[mayorspade]

The One Where I Went To The School Board Meeting Great meeting tonight with the Junior team - not much else to report yet. Looking forward to working with Hillsdale to help the youngest members of our communities be well and successful. Thank you to all the Board Members for having us tonight.

[tetrameryxx]

Summer project: make a guy

It’s gonna be Patriofelis, who wasn’t particularly “felis”

[reddit-lpt]

LPT: When you’ve received a gift you plan on regifting, make sure to put a sticky note on it with who gave it to you as soon as possible. This way you don’t give it back to them or a close friend/relative.

LPT: When you’ve received a gift you plan on regifting, make sure to put a sticky note on it with who gave it to you as soon as possible. This way you don’t give it back to them or a close friend/relative. No text found by Patriofelis via reddit

[antiqueanimals]

Patriofelis. From The First Mammals, written/illustrated by William E. Scheele. 1955.

[rdtechy]

Tweeted

I love @SienkiewiczArt #comics since my teens! This looks like one amazing cover for an CD, #videogames or a #writerslife book. #indierock #progrock #hiphop #Jazz #HardRock #Graphics #GraphicDesign #GraphicDesigner #GraphicDesignBusinessCards #gamedev #indiedev #writerslife #SEO https://t.co/svC1YeDwff

— Patriofelis (@Zorro_Aster) December 31, 2017

[danbensen]

Father of Cats by Eurwentala

In some part of the endless Eocene forest, a Patriofelis slightly raises it's hackles after hearing a suspicious sound. It soon relaxes, as the thump was only a falling fruit, and not a rival in her territory. Patriofelis lived about 45 million years ago, and despite its scientific name meaning 'father cat', it didn't actually have anything to do with felids. It was an oxyaenid, an ancient clade of carnivorous mammals apparently related, but not contained within, modern Carnivora. By weight, Patriofelis matched a cougar, but had a lot shorter limbs, perhaps resembling a civet or an otter. Plants are species known from Eocene Green River Formation: Colocasia sp., a close relative of modern eddoe root, and Platanus leaves.

[ixtu]

[astronomy-to-zoology]

Genus: Patriofelis

...an extinct genus of large cat-like creodonts that lived in middle Eocene North America. Patriofelis was around the same size of a modern day jaguar (4-6 ft) and had short legs with broad feet, which suggests it was a poor runner and a good swimmer. Since Patriofelis was likely a swimmer it most likely led a similar lifestyle to otters and probably fed mostly on turtles which were abundant in some areas where it was found.

Phylogeny

Animalia-Chordata-Mammalia-Creodonta-Oxyaenidae-Patriofelis

Images: Dmitry Bogdanov and Gally242

[sciencetoastudent]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Spencer Bronte (@sciencetoastudent)

Patriofelis ulta Fossil of the Month @nhmu. #nhmu #naturalhistorymuseumofutah #patriofelis #patriofelisulta #mammal #cat #notcat #science #paleontology #zoology #biology #mammalogy #utah #saltlakecity #paleo #fossil #animal #animals (at Natural History Museum of Utah)

[rfskia]

Patriofelis