Dinailurictis Helbing, 1922

Bonis, Louis de, Gardin, Axelle & Blondel, Cécile, 2019, Carnivora from the early Oligocene of the ‘ Phosphorites du Quercy’ in southwestern France, Geodiversitas 41 (15), pp. 601-621 : 616

Genus Dinailurictis Helbing, 1922

TYPE SPECIES. — Dinailurictis bonali Helbing, 1922 by original designation.

REMARKS

The genus was created by Helbing (1922) for fossils found in La Tuque (Lot & Garonne, France) in a molassic continental level which could be dated to the middle Oligocene. The remains consisted of a large scimitar-like upper canine, a P3 and a P4 most likely from the same animal. He added to the same sample a root of a large upper canine from Moissac whose size is similar to that of the La Tuque canine, but the geologic age of which is unknown because there are several levels from the middle and late Oligocene to the early Miocene in the Moissac area. Later, a fragment of maxilla with P3-P4 from the old Quercy collection was described as Nimravus intermedius major Piveteau, 1931. The latter author did not cite Helbing and probably was not aware of his article. The specimen was revised by Ginsburg (1979) and considered as the type species of the new genus Quercylurus Ginsburg, 1979. The main difference between the two genera was the size, Quercylurus being larger than Dinailurictis . The other characters (elongated protocone of P4, irregular minute pleating of the mesial crest of the paracone, m1 more robust) are linked to the larger size (slight allometry) or are also present in Dinailurictis .