![]() ![]() The genus Nimravides moved to the felid side. The genus Eofelis (literally “dawn cat”) moved to the nimravid side. Unfortunately, this splitting led to species being moved from one family to another despite being named under the assumption that nimravids were cats and cats were nimravids. This lasted well into the twentieth century until a detailed examination of skulls ( in particular the auditory bulla) showed that there was a great degree of separation between the two families. It used to be thought that the family of carnivores now known as the Nimravidae were part of the Felidae. A favourite example comes from the history of two cat-like genera. I always get the feeling that the Felidae must be the most abstruse taxonomic family, outside the Hominidae, beset by lumpers and splitters all over the place. That well thumbed volume was an invaluable help to getting a handle on the often confusing and complicated history of felid taxonomy and fossil description. Anton and Turner’s “ Big cats and their fossil relatives” was the first “technical” text I bought at the start of my D.Phil and has a special place in my heart (and bookshelf). ![]() ![]() ![]() Obviously given my interests, this was one book I had to treat myself to. I recently read “ Sabertooth” by Mauricio Anton. ![]()
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