Life reconstruction of Taotienimravus songi in Chinese language portray fashion. Picture credit score: Yuefeng Tune.
Taotienimravus songi lived in what’s now China through the center Oligocene, roughly 28 million years in the past.
The traditional species belongs to Nimravidae, an extinct household of saber-toothed hypercarnivores, typically often known as false saber-toothed cats.
“The order Carnivora displays one of many widest ranges of physique measurement variety inside Mammalia, spanning from roughly 50 g for the least weasel Mustela nivalis to a mean of over three tons within the pinniped Mirounga,” mentioned Dr. Qigao Jiangzuo from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology on the Chinese language Academy of Sciences and colleagues.
“With few exceptions reminiscent of Ursidae, large-bodied terrestrial carnivores — notably these exceeding 20 kg — usually undertake a macrocarnivorous weight-reduction plan, preying on giant animals of comparable or better measurement.”
“The household Nimravidae, generally known as false sabertooths, represents one of many earliest diverging lineages of Carnivora, characterised by giant physique measurement, hypercarnivorous craniodental morphology and presumably a macrocarnivorous weight-reduction plan,” they added.
“The earliest confirmed fossil data of the household within the center Eocene belong to already extremely specialised species with felid-like craniodental morphology.”
“Nimravidae underwent a radiation through the Eocene-Oligocene, with the best-preserved data present in North America, the place quite a few skulls and full skeletons have been found.”
“Fossil stays are additionally plentiful in Eurasia however are much less effectively preserved.”
“As the primary lineage of Carnivora to evolve giant physique measurement, Nimravidae is a perfect group to check exploration of the early macrocarnivorous area of interest by Carnivora in an environmental context vastly completely different from that of the fashionable world.”
The skeletal stays of Taotienimravus songi have been found within the Qingshuiying Formation in northern China.
The evaluation of the specimens reveals that the brand new species represents a non-sabertooth ecomorph kind with preliminary bone-cracking adaptation — a singular kind among the many Nimravidae gamily.
The animal most likely had a killing habits that was completely different from every other felid-like carnivores however most likely used a tearing chew as seen in hyenas.
“Essentially the most distinctive characters of the brand new nimravid are the very brief and strong higher canine and the general broad palatal area,” the paleontologists mentioned.
“The podium could be very vast, most likely one of many widest among the many recognized nimravids.”
“In contrast to in lots of different felid-like carnivores, the premolars are usually not contracted however as a substitute enlarged, leaving no diastema between the canine and the cheek enamel.”
“This contrasts with the situation in most felid-like carnivorans, the place a diastema is sort of invariably current.”
“We interpret this hole as correlated with a powerful canine chew and utilizing canines to deeply puncture into the prey.”
The crew’s phylogenetic evaluation locations Taotienimravus songi inside Nimravinae, the place it kinds the sister lineage to European and North American Nimravus and Dinaelurus.
This clade is sister to the European lineage Eofelis + Dinailurictis + Quercylurus.
“A rise in physique measurement amongst Nimravidae seems to have coincided with the demise of Oxyaenidae, one other carnivorous clade within the Paleogene,” the researchers mentioned.
“The preliminary emergence of macrocarnivorous adaptation of Carnivora by a felid-like ecomorph most likely displays competitors dynamics.”
“Nimravidae efficiently occupied a number of ecological niches that weren’t exploited by Felidae, most likely owing to the dearth of competitors inside Carnivora throughout a lot of their evolutionary historical past.”
“Our research underscores the function of each abiotic and biotic components in shaping area of interest availability for these animals, emphasizing the necessity for discussions on area of interest change and evolution to be grounded in these issues.”
A paper describing this discovery was revealed on November 26, 2025 within the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
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Qigao Jiangzuo et al. 2025. A brand new ecomorph of Nimravidae, and the early macrocarnivorous area of interest exploration in Carnivora. Proc Biol Sci 292 (2059): 20251686; doi: 10.1098/rspb.2025.1686
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