Post by dinosauria101 on Mar 16, 2019 8:04:43 GMT 5
Megalictis ferox
Megalictis ferox was a species of large predatory mustelid, now extinct, which existed in North America during the "cat gap" in the Miocene period. Based on the cranium, M. ferox is estimated to have been between a jaguar and black bear-size mustelid and the largest terrestrial mustelid known to have existed. Matthew described it as having short stout legs, with short feet and long non-retractible claws, similar to a modern wolverine but about twice the size, and noted that "the teeth indicate an animal fully as predaceous as the wolverine, but the skeleton points to more fossorial habits". A recent (2016) ecomorphological interpretation suggests M. ferox as a bone-crushing durophage (similar to hyenas), rather than a cat-like hypercarnivore, as had been previously described. The relative large size of M. ferox, together with a stout rostrum and mandible made it one of the more powerful predators of the Early Miocene of the Great Plains of North America.
Fukuiraptor kitadaniensis
Fukuiraptor ("thief of Fukui") was a medium-sized carnivore of the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) that lived in what is now Japan. Scientists first thought it was a member of the Dromaeosauridae, but after studying the fossils they then believed it was related to Allosaurus (which is classed in a different family) in the family Neovenatoridae. However, more recently, another analysis has proposed that all megaraptorans are actually tyrannosauroids, which would reclassify Fukuiraptor as a tyrannosauroid coelurosaur. The type specimen is the skeleton of an individual about 4.2 metres long. It is thought that this specimen was not mature and an adult may have been larger. However, the other individuals recovered from the same locality are all juveniles that were smaller than the holotype (Currie & Azuma, 2006), in the smallest case less than a quarter of the holotype's size. Weight estimates vary between 175 kg (Benson et al 2010) and 200 kg (450 lbs).
Credit to Wikipedia
Megalictis ferox was a species of large predatory mustelid, now extinct, which existed in North America during the "cat gap" in the Miocene period. Based on the cranium, M. ferox is estimated to have been between a jaguar and black bear-size mustelid and the largest terrestrial mustelid known to have existed. Matthew described it as having short stout legs, with short feet and long non-retractible claws, similar to a modern wolverine but about twice the size, and noted that "the teeth indicate an animal fully as predaceous as the wolverine, but the skeleton points to more fossorial habits". A recent (2016) ecomorphological interpretation suggests M. ferox as a bone-crushing durophage (similar to hyenas), rather than a cat-like hypercarnivore, as had been previously described. The relative large size of M. ferox, together with a stout rostrum and mandible made it one of the more powerful predators of the Early Miocene of the Great Plains of North America.
Fukuiraptor kitadaniensis
Fukuiraptor ("thief of Fukui") was a medium-sized carnivore of the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) that lived in what is now Japan. Scientists first thought it was a member of the Dromaeosauridae, but after studying the fossils they then believed it was related to Allosaurus (which is classed in a different family) in the family Neovenatoridae. However, more recently, another analysis has proposed that all megaraptorans are actually tyrannosauroids, which would reclassify Fukuiraptor as a tyrannosauroid coelurosaur. The type specimen is the skeleton of an individual about 4.2 metres long. It is thought that this specimen was not mature and an adult may have been larger. However, the other individuals recovered from the same locality are all juveniles that were smaller than the holotype (Currie & Azuma, 2006), in the smallest case less than a quarter of the holotype's size. Weight estimates vary between 175 kg (Benson et al 2010) and 200 kg (450 lbs).
Credit to Wikipedia