Percrocuta

Percrocuta is an extinct genus of hyena-like feliform carnivores. It lived in Europe, Asia, and Africa, during the Miocene epoch.

Percrocuta
Temporal range:
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: †Percrocutidae
Genus: †Percrocuta
Kretzoi, 1938
Type species
Hyaena carnifex[1]
Pilgrim, 1913
Species
  • †Percrocuta abessalomi Gabunia, 1958
  • †Percrocuta carnifex Pilgrim, 1913
  • †Percrocuta grandis
  • †Percrocuta leakeyi Howell & Petter, 1985
  • †Percrocuta miocenica Pavolović & Thenius, 1965
  • †Percrocuta tobieni[2] Crusafont & Aguirre, 1971
  • †Percrocuta xixiaensis Xiong, 2022[3]
  • †Percrocuta tungurensis
Synonyms

Capsatherium Kurtén, 1978

Characteristics

With a maximum length of 1.50 m (5 ft), Percrocuta was much bigger than its modern relatives. Like the spotted hyena, it had a robust skull and powerful jaws. Similar to modern hyaenids, its hind legs were shorter than the front legs, resulting in a characteristic sloping back.[4]

Classification

Percrocuta was introduced as a genus of Hyaenidae in 1938.[1] Percrocuta's relation to the family was debated until 1985, when Percrocuta, Dinocrocuta, Belbus, and Allohyaena were accepted as the four genera of Percrocutidae.[5] More recent evidence, however, has shown that Belbus and Allohyaena at least, are not percrocutids.[6]

Fossil evidence

P. abessalomi is known only from a skull, two mandibles, and two teeth. These fossils were all collected from the Belomechetskaja, Georgia area and date from the sixth Mammal Neogene (MN) zone. This species is the best known of the family Percrocutidae. P. miocenica is known from only a few mandibles, found in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey.[7][8] These fossils are also dated to MN 6.[5]

References
  1. Kretzoi, M. (1938). "Die Raubtiere von Gombaszög nebst einer Übersicht der Gesamtfauna" (PDF). Annales Musei Nationalis Hungarici. 31: 88–153. Retrieved 10 Oct 2023.
  2. Lars Werdelin (2019). "'Middle Miocene Carnivora and Hyaenodonta from Fort Ternan, western Kenya" (PDF). Geodiversitas. 41 (6).
  3. Xiong, W. (2022). "New species of Percrocuta (Carnivora, Hyaenidae) from the early middle Miocene of Tongxin, China". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology: 1–22. doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2067757. S2CID 248627038.
  4. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 221. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
  5. Raymond Louis Bernor; Volker Fahlbusch; Hans-Walter Mittmann (1996). The Evolution of Western Eurasian Neogene Mammal Faunas. Columbia University Press. pp. 261–265. ISBN 0-231-08246-0.
  6. Lars Werdelin; Björn Kürten (1999). "Allohyaena (Mammalia: Carnivora): giant hyaenid from the Late Miocene of Hungary". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 126 (3): 319–334. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1999.tb01374.x.
  7. Bastl, Katharina; Nagel, Doris; Morlo, Michael; Göhlich, Ursula B. (June 2020). "The Carnivora (Mammalia) from the middle Miocene locality of Gračanica (Bugojno Basin, Gornji Vakuf, Bosnia and Herzegovina)". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. 100 (2): 307–319. doi:10.1007/s12549-018-0353-0. ISSN 1867-1594.
  8. Radović, Predrag; Mayda, Serdar; Alaburić, Sanja; Marković, Zoran (2021-04-01). "Percrocuta miocenica (Percrocutidae, Carnivora) from the middle Miocene of Brajkovac (Central Serbia)". Geobios. 65: 41–49. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2021.02.001. ISSN 0016-6995. S2CID 233574168.


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