Puma lacustris
| Lake cat Temporal range: Blancan–Early Irvingtonian
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| Holotype at the National Museum of Natural History | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | Felinae |
| Genus: | Puma |
| Species: | †P. lacustris
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| Binomial name | |
| †Puma lacustris (Gazin, 1933)
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| Synonyms | |
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The lake cat (Puma lacustris) is an extinct species of Puma from the Blancan stage (from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene). The type specimen is a partial fragment piece of the right side of the mandible retaining canine and cheek-teeth found in the Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument from Idaho. The holotype was described in 1933 by Gazin who considered a smaller relative of the cougar.[1] The taxonomic identity has been uncertain at times, as a relationship (and classification) to lynxes has been purposed.[2] Additional specimens of this species of Puma have been found elsewhere in North America, such as Washington, California, Arizona, Texas, and Baja California.[3]
Description
Lake cats were medium-sized felines with a size intermediate between modern bobcats and cougars.[4] Remains of lake cats are extremely similar to those of the lynx-like Felis rexroadensis, though fossils of that species are smaller in comparison with the lake cat.[5]
References
- ^ Gazin, C.L. (1933). "New felids from the upper Pliocene of Idaho". Journal of Mammalogy. 14 (3): 251–256. doi:10.2307/1373825. JSTOR 1373825.
- ^ Bjork, P.R. (1970). "The Carnivora of the Hagerman local fauna (late Pliocene) of southwestern Idaho". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 60 (7): 3–54. doi:10.2307/1006119. JSTOR 1006119.
- ^ Bjorn, K.; Anderson, E. (1980). Pleistocene mammals of North America. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 1–422. ISBN 9780231037334.
- ^ Lucas, Spencer G.; Estep, John W.; Williamson, Thomas E.; Morgan, Gary S. (1997). New Mexico's Fossil Record 1: Bulletin 11. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.
- ^ Czaplewski, Nicholas J. (1987). "Middle Blancan vertebrate assemblage from the Verde Formation, Arizona". Contributions to Geology. 25 (2). University of Wyoming: 146–147.