Pseudaelurus

Morlo, Michael, Peigné, Stéphane & Nagel, Doris, 2004, A new species of Prosansanosmilus: implications for the systematic relationships of the family Barbourofelidae new rank (Carnivora, Mammalia), Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 140 (1), pp. 43-61 : 50

COMPARISON WITH PSEUDAELURUS

The material discussed herein was previously assigned to the co-occurring felid Pseudaelurus quadridentatus ( Blainville, 1843) on the specimen labels and by Fahlbusch & Liebreich (1996). Only this felid is mentioned in lists of the Sandelzhausen fauna (e.g. Fahlbusch et al., 1974; Fahlbusch & Liebreich, 1996). We thus compare the new material with this taxon first, as it is the only felid species of similar size in the Middle Miocene of Europe. P. quadridentatus lacks a flange as well as a curved mandibular body. The misidentification of the holotype is mainly due to the fact that the latter character is not visible because of lateral compression. The other specimens never received detailed investigation. P. quadridentatus is on average approximately 20% larger than P. eggeri . The posterior cusp on P/3 is less prominent, and the protoconid does not slope backwards. In P/4, the anterior and posterior cusps are less developed and the protoconid does not slope backwards. In M/1, the metaconid is absent or relatively smaller and placed lower at the lingual protoconid wall. In occlusal view, the angle between proto- and paraconid is about 110∞ in P. quadridentatus , while it ranges from only 105∞ to 98∞ in P. eggeri . The protoconid is also much taller in the barbourofelid than in the felid (relative to the total length of M/1); in labial view, the preproto- and postparacristids are therefore at right angles, instead of forming obtuse angles as in Pseudaelurus . Finally, the lower canine and M/ 1 in the holotype of P. eggeri preserve crenulations, which are absent in the felid.