Sivanasua
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| Sivanasua | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | †Lophocyonidae |
| Genus: | †Sivanasua Pilgrim, 1932 |
| Species | |
| |
Sivanasua is an extinct genus of carnivorous mammal found across Miocene Europe including Germany, Austria,[1] France, Spain and the Czech Republic. Like other lophocyonids, Sivanasua had unusual lophodont dentition, meaning the molars had ridges across the grinding surface of the molars, an adaptation believed to be indicative of a herbivorous diet.
The first fossils of Sivanasua from Attenfeld, Germany, were interpreted by Max Schlosser in 1916 as a relative of the red panda. Schlosser named them "Aeluravus" viverroides. However, as the name was already occupied by a glirid, Pilgrim later suggested the name Sivanasua in its place. Pilgrim simultaneously named two more species from India and Pakistan, S. himalayensis and S. palaeindica. Both these species, alongside S. nagrii (named by Prasad in 1963), were later recovered as primates.[2] Crusafont-Pairó described a species from Spain in 1959 as S. antiqua and Fejar & Schmidt-Kittler described S. moravica in 1984.[3]