Promephitis Gaudry, 1861

Geraads, Denis & Spassov, Nikolaï, 2016, Musteloid carnivores from the upper Miocene of South- Western Bulgaria, and the phylogeny of the Mephitidae, Geodiversitas 38 (4), pp. 543-558 : 545

Genus Promephitis Gaudry, 1861

TYPE SPECIES. — Promephitis lartetii Gaudry, 1861 by monotypy.

EMENDED DIAGNOSIS. — A mephitid ranging in size from that of Spilogale to that of Mephitis . Skull and face short and broad; muzzle inflated; zygomatic arch robust; angle of the mandible unexpanded; mastoid sinus moderately inflated; cerebral features primitive (frontal sinus absent, sylvian sulcus not distinct, supra-sylvian short, lateral sulcus almost straight, cruciate sulcus and post-cruciate complex virtually absent); premolar series extremely shortened; P2 extremely reduced; P3 even smaller than in Conepatus ; P4 hypocone long, tall, and distally located; buccal cingulum of M1 very strong (in part from Wang & Qiu 2004).

One skull from Bulgaria, HD- 9505, was CT-scanned; it is thus much better known, and we will start with the description of the species to which this specimen belongs.