Barbourofelis

Bar-bore-os-fell-iss.
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Cassidy Wood

Paleoentomologist

Cassidy Wood uncovers the tiny yet significant world of prehistoric insects. Her research on amber-preserved specimens has revealed intricate details about ancient ecosystems.

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Name

Barbourofelis ‭(‬Barbour’s cat‭)‬.

Phonetic

Bar-bore-os-fell-iss.

Named By

Schultz,‭ ‬Schultz‭ & ‬Martin‭ ‬-‭ ‬1970.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Barbourofelidae.

Diet

Carnivore.

Species

B.‭ ‬fricki‭

Size

Up to‭ ‬1.8‭ ‬meters long, 90 centimetres high at the shoulder. Full size depends upon species.‭

Known locations

North America.

Time Period

Serravallian to Messinian of the Miocene.

Fossil representation

Many specimens.

In Depth

       Barbourofelis is easily one of the largest of the‭ ‘‬false sabre-toothed cats‭’ ‬which were carnivorous mammals that through convergent evolution evolved to be very much like cats in form even though they are in fact quite distantly related.‭ ‬For this reason Barbourofelis is often quoted as being a member of the Nimravidae,‭ ‬a large group of false sabre toothed cats,‭ ‬although most palaeontologists place Barbourofelis within its own related but distinct group‭; ‬the Barbourofelidae.

       Barbourofelis was a powerfully built predator with a skeletal structure that is indicative of a strongly developed musculature similar in scale to the much later and true sabre-toothed cat Smilodon populator.‭ ‬This hints that like Smilodon populator,‭ ‬Barbourofelis was very physical in its attacks upon animals,‭ ‬subduing them with brute strength before using its enlarged sabre like upper canines to deliver a killing bite.‭ ‬The large size also hints at a specialisation in slower but more powerful prey like primitive rhinos that would have been very common in North America during the Miocene.‭

       Barbourofelis was not the only false sabre-toothed cat in North America,‭ ‬although the other earlier forms such as nimravids like Nimravus and Hoplophoneus were much smaller.‭ ‬The main predatory competition for Barbourofelis would have been bear dogs like Amphicyon that were also very large and powerful predators.‭ ‬However niether Barbourofelis nor Amphicyon lived beyond the Miocene,‭ ‬and it’s thought that a combination of climate change yielding new herbivores and new more advanced predators to hunt them displaced these two powerful animals as top predators,‭ ‬with extinction soon following.

Further Reading

– Bulletin of the Nebraska State Museum 9(1). – C. B. Schultz et al – 1970. – Barbourofelis (Nimravidae) and Nimravides (Felidae), with a Description of Two New Species from the Late Miocene of Florida. – Journal of Mammalogy 62(1):122-139. – J. A. baskin – 1981.

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