Afrosmilus
Extinct genus of barbourofelid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Afrosmilus is a fossil genus of afrosmilin barbourofelin. It lived in Africa during the middle Miocene.
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| Afrosmilus Temporal range: Middle Miocene | |
|---|---|
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| Restoration of Hyainailouros sulzeri (far left), Cynelos eurydon, Afrosmilus africanus and Hyainailouros napakensis (far right) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Placentalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | †Nimravidae |
| Tribe: | †Afrosmilini |
| Genus: | †Afrosmilus Kretzoi, 1929 |
| Type species | |
| †Afrosmilus africanus (Andrews, 1914) | |
| Species | |
| |
Taxonomy and evolution
The species Pseudaelurus africanus was first described in 1914;[1] in 1929 it was assigned to the new genus Afrosmilus by Miklós Kretzoi.[2]
A second species Afrosmilus turkanae was described in 1987.[3]
In 2001, a third species, Afrosmilus hispanicus, was described along with the closely related genus Ginsburgsmilus; for these earlier African barbourofelines the tribe Afrosmilini was erected.[4]
