El género Paramachairodus Pilgrim, 1913 (Felidae, Machairodontinae) en el Mioceno superior español

Abstract

We present a study of the dental remains of the sabertooth cat Paramachairodus PILGRIM, 1913 from the Upper Miocene of Spain. As a result of the exceptional discoveries at Batallones-1 (MN 10) it has been possible to characterize the dentition of P. ogygia. This species can be distinguished by the following primitive features: canines without crenulation, P3 with a postero-lingual expansion and P4 without ectostyle and with a strong protocone. In contrast, P. orientalis shows the following clearly derived characters: crenulated canines, P3 reduced in size and without postero-lingual expansion, and P4 with a well marked ectostyle as well as a reduced protocone displaced backwards. The study of the dental remains from several turolian sites allows us to identify the species P. ogygia in Crevillente 2 (MN11), and P. orientalis in Puente Minero (MN 11) and Concud (MN 12). The dentition from Las Casiones (MN 13), which combines typical features of P. ogygia with some large teeth in the dental sample, has been determined as Paramachairodus sp. It is possible that two lines of Paramachairodus have coexisted throughout the Turolian age in the Iberian Peninsula. One of them, with a primitive dentition, starts with P. ogygia, and shows an increase in size throughout its temporal distribution. The other one had already developed a derived dentition, similar to P. orientalis, by the beginning of the lower Turolian.