Nimravidae

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(Redirected from Nimravid)
Nimravids (false sabre-tooths)
Conservation status: Fossil
Image:Hoplophoneus.jpeg
Hoplophoneus mentalis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:Carnivora
Suborder:Feliformia
Family:Nimravidae
Subfamilies

The Nimravidae, also known as False sabre-tooths, are an extinct family of mammalian carnivores. Although they physically resembled the sabre-toothed cats of genus Smilodon, they were not closely related, but evolved a similar form through parallel evolution. It is not certain whether the family Barbourofelinae truly has its closest affinities with Nimravids.

Image:Holophoneusskull1.jpg

The ancestors of the Nimravids and cats diverged from their common ancestor in the early Eocene, more than 50 million years ago (mya). Recognizable Nimravid fossils date from the later Eocene (36 million mya) to the late Miocene (5 mya). Nimravid diversity appears to have peaked about 28 mya. Most had muscular, low-slung, catlike bodies, with shorter legs and tails than typical of cats. The largest species reached the size of a lion.

Classification

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