Megalictis

Name: Megalictis.
Phonetic: Meg-ah-lik-tiss.
Named By: William Diller Matthew‭ ‬-‭ ‬1907.
Synonyms: Aelurocyon brevifacies,‭ ‬Brachypsalis simplicidens,‭ ‬Megalictis brevifacies,‭ ‬Megalictis simplicidens,‭ ‬Paroligobunis,‭ ‬simplicidens.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Carnivora,‭ ‬Mustelidae,‭ ‬Oligobuninae.
Species: M.‭ ‬ferox‭ (‬type‭)‬,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬frazieri,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬petersoni.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Estimated between‭ ‬20‭ ‬and‭ ‬60‭ ‬kilograms,‭ ‬but opinions amongst palaeontologists can vary greatly.
Known locations: USA.
Time period: Harrisonian‭ (‬Late Chattian of the Oligocne to Aquitanian of the Miocene‭)‬.
Fossil representation: Multiple individuals.

       Whereas most modern mustelids are relatively small predators that hunt small animals,‭ ‬Megalictis was the prehistoric giant that was comparable to modern dogs and big cats.‭ ‬However exactly how big remains a matter of debate amongst researchers with some saying that Megalictis was relatively light weight at around twenty kilograms,‭ ‬with others suggesting as much as sixty kilograms if not bigger.‭
       Today Megalictis is often described as being physically similar to the wolverine‭ (‬Gulo gulo‭) ‬only much bigger.‭ ‬With this in mind it was probably a generalist predator that could adapt to tackling a variety of different prey that could have also included other small predators as well as herbivores.‭ ‬Because of the physical proportions and joints of the limbs,‭ ‬Megalictis was better suited towards ambush hunting rather than open pursuit.‭ ‬Megalictis probably existed in the same predatory niche as its large relative Ekorus from Africa.

Further reading
- A Lower Miocene fauna from South Dakota. - Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 23(9):169-219. - W. D. Matthew - 1907.
- The Miocene Beds of Western Nebraska and Eastern Wyoming and Their Vertebrate Faunae. - Annals of Carnegie Museum 4(3):21-72. - O. A. Peterson - 1907.
- An Early Miocene (Arikareean) fauna from northcentral Florida (the SB-1A Local Fauna). Occasional Papers of the Museum of Natural History. - University of Kansas 75:1-20. - D. Frailey - 1978.
- The giant mustelid Megalictis from the Early Miocene carnivore dens at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, earliest evidence of dimorphism in New World Mustelidae. - Contributions to Geology (31): 35–48. - R. H. Hunt Jr. & R. Skolnick - 1996.
- Megalictis, the bone-crushing giant mustelid (Carnivora, Mustelidae, Oligobuninae) from the Early Miocene of North America. - PLOS ONE. 11 (4): e0152430. - Alberto Valenciano, Jon A. Baskin, Juan Abella, Alejandro Pérez-Ramos, M. Ángeles Álvarez-Sierra, Jorge Morales & Adam Hartstone-Rose - 2016.

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