Mauricio Anton

• Spanish National Research Council

Megantereon was a widespread saber‐toothed felid from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of the Old World and North America, but its rarity in the fossil record makes it complicated to restore its life appearance. Lack of complete specimens makes it necessary to combine information from fossils of different individuals to reconstruct their facial anatomy...

The Late Miocene natural traps of Cerro de los Batallones (Madrid, Spain) have yielded thousands of fossils of vertebrates, mostly carnivoran mammals such as hyaenids, amphicyonids, ailurids, mustelids, ursids, and felids, especially Batallones-1 and Batallones-3. Among these carnivorans, the tiger-sized saber-toothed felid Machairodus aphanistus w...

We describe a hemimandible of a medium-sized feline from the Middle Miocene (middle Aragonian, MN 5, local biozone Dc, around 15.5 Ma) site of Príncipe Pío-2, a recently discovered fossil locality placed in the urban limits of Madrid city (Spain), within an area previously known for its rich paleontological findings. The specimen is very well prese...

The Hyaenodonta were the most diverse carnivorous mammals in the European Eocene and were classically divided into three subfamilies: Sinopaninae, Arfianinae, and Proviverrinae, with this latter being the most successful of the three, as it exhibited a much larger geographic and temporal range. This classification is currently abandoned, as cladist...

The Itardies locality (MP23, 30–31 Ma), in the Quercy Phosphorites (France), has yielded an impressive amount of fossil remains attributed to Amphicynodon leptorhynchus, a genet-sized carnivoran. This species belongs to the family Amphicynodontidae, which was very diversified during the lower Oligocene in Eurasia and whose paleoecology is still poo...

Homotherium is one of the sabre-toothed felid genera with a more extensive overlap in space and time with species of our own genus Homo, who must have been familiar with the animal, but now we only have its fossil remains to infer its life appearance. A revised reconstruction of the soft tissue and life appearance of Homotherium latidens is propose...

The red panda family, the Ailuridae, is unusual because its only extant representative is a derived form, far removed from the group’s morphotypical condition. Effectively, the extreme adaptations of the red panda skull and dentition for a vegetarian diet imply that the study of the fossil record is essential if we are to gain an understanding of t...

Príncipe Pío-2 is one of the richest middle Miocene fossil sites of Madrid. Here we describe a fairly well preserved hemimandible of a medium-sized felid from this site. Based on diagnostic characters, such as poorly developed talonid and metaconid on m1, gently curved mandibular symphysis, and presence of a vestigial m2, the specimen is determined...

How sabertoothed felids have evolved their iconic morphology remains unclear because of the patchy fossil record of early machairodontines. Batallones localities in the Madrid region (Spain) have the potential to clarify this as two sites have yielded hundreds of fossils of the early machairodontines Promegantereon ogygia and Machairodus aphanistus...

This paper provides a detailed description and the functional anatomy of the forelimb of an early Oligocene genet-sized arctoid carnivoran, Amphicynodon leptorhynchus, to infer its probable lifestyle. This work represents the first insights into the functional anatomy of the postcranial skeleton and palaeoecology of an emblematic member of the firs...

The Amphicynodontidae is a family of early arctoids, whose phylogenetic position within Carnivora is still debated and whose ecology has not been discussed so far, despite their abundance and diversification in the early Oligocene fossil record. This presentation provides the first insights on the ecology and functional anatomy of Amphicynodon lept...

How can we get a picture of the sabretooth cat Homotherium as a living animal? We use a methodology of paleobiological reconstruction that combines the study of fossil remains with that of their modern counterparts in order to propose hypotheses about the unpreserved anatomy and behaviour of the extinct species. In this contribution I explain how t...

The scimitar-toothed cat Homotherium was one of the most cosmopolitan cats of the Pleistocene, present throughout Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas until at least ~28 thousand years ago.1, 2, 3 Friesenhahn Cave (Bexar County, Texas) contains some of the best-preserved specimens of Homotherium serum alongside an abundance of juvenile mammoths, leadi...

Los llamados “félidos dientes de sable” aparecen en el registro fósil a partir del Mioceno superior, desapareciendo hace tan solo unos 10.000 años. Los últimos representantes de este grupo fueron los cazadores dominantes en las comunidades de mamíferos de las que formaron parte. Su anatomía, altamente especializada, es bastante bien conocida gracia...

Machairodontinae is a subfamily of extinct felids that gathered much attention thanks to their iconic saber-teeth. Unfortunately, how this morphology evolved is unclear because of the patchy fossil record of early machairodontines. The Batallones localities (Madrid, Spain) have the potential to shed light on this issue, as two cavities (Batallones-...

We describe and discuss the morphology and functional anatomy of the thoracolumbar and sacrocaudal regions of the vertebral column of the late Miocene amphicyonid Magericyon anceps. These regions are essential for body support, and very relevant for locomotion and prey capture, and thus their study provides interesting insights on the paleobiology...

Herein, we present a study of an interesting sample of fossils of the giant amphicyonid Megamphicyon giganteus (Schinz, 1825) from the Spanish middle Miocene (MN6) site of Carpetana (Madrid city), obtained during public works for the Madrid underground in 2008. Although the dentition of this species is known from other sites, the postcranial bones...

In the present paper, we carry out a deep analysis of the functional anatomy of the long bones of the fossil, wolverine-sized mustelid Ischyrictis zibethoides (Blainville, 1841) in comparison with that of several extant related species. The study reveals that this animal lacked specific adaptations for either climbing or running, probably being a t...

The study of cervical anatomy in the Miocene machairodontine felid Machairodus aphanistus reveals the early stages of evolution of the sabre-toothed adaptations in the homotherin lineage. The cervical vertebrae of M. aphanistus show a surprising mosaic of features, combining a more primitive atlas than its derived relative Homotherium, with a set o...

In this paper, we study a sample of cranial, mandibular and dental remains of two species of the machairodontine felid genus Machairodus from the Early Vallesian (MN 9, around 10 Ma) site of Los Valles de Fuentidueña (Segovia, Spain): the tiger-sized Machairodus aphanistus, and the smaller and more primitive M. alberdiae; a species which is only kn...

The Spanish late Miocene locality of Batallones-1 yielded a rich sample of large carnivorans, including saber-toothed felids, amphicyonids, and ailurids, but also of smaller species, with the small cats being especially interesting. Two species are known from Batallones-1, one of them the size of a wildcat, Felis silvestris, the other one the size...

We describe the skull and neck morphology of the late Miocene amphicyonid Magericyon anceps, focusing on aspects related to functional anatomy. This species, recorded only from the Vallesian sites of Batallones-1 and Batallones-3 (Madrid, Spain), is the last known amphicyonid in the fossil record of Western Europe, with the Batallones populations b...

Pristinailurus bristoli is only known from the late Hemphillian Gray Fossil Site (Washington County, TN). Since its description in 2004 based on an isolated M1, several specimens have been found, bringing the MNI up to seven. Among the new material are two nearly complete specimens: ETMNH 3596 (~98% complete) and ETMNH 15000 (~75% complete). Th...

Inferences of function and ecology in extinct taxa have long been a subject of interest because it is fundamental to understand the evolutionary history of species. In this study, we use a quantitative approach to investigate the locomotor behaviour of Simocyon batalleri, a key taxon related to the ailurid family. To do so, we use 3D surface geomet...

We describe and discuss several aspects of the functional anatomy of the shoulder of the Miocene amphicyonid Magericyon anceps, focusing on the scapula and proximal half of the humerus. This species, only known from the late Miocene (Vallesian, MN 10) site of Batallones-1 (Madrid, Spain), is the last amphicyonid known in the fossil record of Wester...

We examined the first evidence of pathology in the forelimb of the primitive saber-toothed felid Promegantereon ogygia, observed in a radius from the late Miocene (Vallesian, MN 10) site of La Roma 2 (Teruel, Spain). This fossil is the first evidence of a member of the Machairodontinae in this locality, and the first fossil of this species found in...

In the present work we conduct a comparative study of the cranial and dental samples of the early machairodontine Machairodus aphanistus from the Vallesian (MN 10) sites of Batallones-1 and Batallones-3 (Torrejón de Velasco, Madrid, Spain). These sites, which have yielded the most abundant and complete samples of this felid, show interesting differ...

We compare two populations of the primitive saber-toothed felid Promegantereon ogygia from the late Miocene (Vallesian, MN 10) of Spain. These populations come from two fossil sites, Batallones-1 and Batallones-3, located very close to each other, within the Cerro de los Batallones complex. The sites show differences in age and in their faunal asse...

Un nuevo ciervo para la dieta neandertal Ha pasado ya una década desde que, en 2003-2005, se excavara el yacimiento paleolítico de PRERESA, en Getafe. Los directores de la excavación, los paleolitistas Joaquín Panera y Susana Rubio, me invitaron a visitar aquel yacimiento que era de enorme interés desde el punto de vista tafonómico, es decir, en lo...

A new genus and species of otter-like mustelid, Teruelictis riparius, is created on the basis of a partial skeleton from the Late Miocene (Vallesian age, MN 10) locality of La Roma 2 (Teruel, Spain), including several postcranial elements, the skull, and the mandible. The combination of a typically lutrine dentition, similar to that of other fossil...

The craniodental anatomy of Machairodus catocopis is assessed through the study of a well-preserved specimen from the early Hemphillian site of Sebastin Place (Kansas) and through comparisons with other Miocene American and Eurasiaticmachairodonts, in order to resolve its affinities and to gain a clearer understanding of the evolution of machairodo...

With their spectacularly enlarged canines, sabertooth cats are among the most popular of prehistoric animals, yet it is surprising how little information about them is available for the curious layperson. What’s more, there were other sabertooths that were not cats, animals with exotic names like nimravids, barbourofelids, and thylacosmilids. Some...

Fossil tracksites with well-preserved mammal footprints are rare, but even those providing a good record of foot print morphology rarely preserve more than a couple of consecutive prints of the same animal. Tracksites with long trackways are true jewels of mammalian palaeoichnology, offering veritable windows into the locomotion and behaviour of ex...

Several new fossil remains of Felidae from the late Miocene (Turolian age, MN 13, local zone M2) locality of Las Casiones (near the village of Villalba Baja, Teruel, Spain) are studied in the present paper. This felid community includes the machairodontines Amphimachairodus giganteus, Paramachaerodus orientalis, and Metailurus major, and the feline...

The Spanish fossil localities of Batallones-1 and Batallones-3 are two Vallesian (Late Miocene) natural traps known for their high concentration of carnivoran mammals. These include amphicyonids, ailurids, mustelids, ursids, hyaenids, machairodont felids, and two species of small-bodied felines, one the size of an European wildcat, Felis sylvestris...

This chapter presents the early evolution of the Ailurids, its Old-World fossil record, and the implications of the paleontological evidence for the position of the ailurids among other carnivoran families. The red panda family is unusual because its only extant representative is a derived form, far removed from the group's morphotypical condition....

Dentro del orden Primates existe una gran variedad de especies distribuidas a lo largo de hábitats muy diversos. Dicha heterogeneidad ha fomentado la evolución y desarrollo de un gran número de adaptaciones locomotoras a los diferentes ambientes en los que habitan. Así, existen en la actualidad tanto grupos arborícolas como terrestres. La subfamili...

In the present work, the frontal sinuses of the sabre-toothed felid Promegantereon ogygia are analysed, in comparison to those of the extant felines Acinonyx jubatus, Puma conocolor and Panthera pardus, of similar body weight. The study was carried out using 3D virtual models obtained from CT Scan images, a non-destructive technique that has reveal...

Fossil species of the family Hyaenidae represent a wide range of ecomorphological diversity not observed in living representatives of this carnivoran group. Among them, the cursorial meat-and-bone specialists are of particular interest not only because they were the most cursorial of the hyaenids, but also because they were the only members of this...

The postcranial skeleton of the European Middle Miocene feline Styriofelis lorteti has been traditionally known on the basis of fragmentary fossils mainly from the French locality of Sansan. The discovery of an almost complete skeleton in the same site in the excavations of 1990 opened the possibility of unprecedented assessment of the morphology a...

Sabre-toothed felids, the machairodontines, have attracted much attention among palaeontologists for many decades, not only because of their spectacular morphology but also because they are a striking example of convergent evolution that is most probably linked to strong selective pressures. In this paper we provide a summary of the changing interp...

A systematic revision of the sabre-toothed cat genus Paramachaerodus Pilgrim, 1913 is presented. Two spe-cies are recognized within Paramachaerodus, Pa. orientalis, and Pa. maximiliani, and the genus Promegantereon Kretzoi, 1938 is retrieved to include Promegantereon ogygia. Material from the Turolian Spanish localities of Crevillente-2 (MN 11, Ali...

We examine the functional anatomy of the forelimb in the primitive sabre-toothed cat Promegantereon ogygia in comparison with that of the extant pantherins, other felids and canids. The study reveals that this early machairodontine had already developed strong forelimbs and a short and robust thumb, a combination that probably allowed P. ogygia to...

The cervical vertebrae play an essential role in the hypothetical models of the predatory behavior of sabertoothed cats. Derived members of the machairodontine tribes Smilodontini and Homotherini share the possession of strong, elongated cervicals with prominent processes for muscle insertion, traits that have been interpreted as adaptations for a...

We reconstruct the life appearance of the head and body of the sabretoothed felid Homotherium latidens through the study of osteological correlates of soft tissue attributes, incorporating data from the dissection of several large felids and using the Extant Phylogenetic Bracket to infer the condition of unpreserved attributes where morphological e...

We review the larger pattern of appearance of the Hyaenidae in Europe and outline their part in the turnover of the guild of larger Carnivora that occurs across the Miocene–Pliocene boundary. The earliest record of the family is in MN4, although the patchy nature of the earliest records makes it difficult to be certain about the continent of origin...

The vertebrate community of the late Miocene locality of Batallones-1, Madrid Province, Spain, is mainly composed of mammals of the order Carnivora, which rep-resents 98 per cent of the total number of macro-mammal fossils. Here, we describe craniodental remains of approxi-mately 12 individuals of a new, highly specialized member of the Amphicyonid...

We describe the postcranial anatomy of the Miocene puma-sized ailurid Simocyon batalleri, discussing some aspects of its biomechanics and inferring a probable life style. The postcranial anatomy of S. batalleri was previously unknown due the fragmentary nature of its fossil record, and most of the available fossils corresponded to cranial and denta...

Questions surrounding the biology of large fossil predators that differ markedly from living forms have long intrigued palaeobiologists. Among such taxa few have excited more interest than sabertooth cats, whose distinctive hypertrophied canines are suggestive of killing behaviors and feeding ecologies that may have departed widely from those of ex...

The Cerro de los Batallones (Los Batallones Butte) is located in the central-northern area of the Madrid Basin, central Spain. Nine vertebrates localities containing a large variety of mammals of Upper Vallesian Age (Late Miocene) have been found associated with the sediments forming the butte. From bottom to top, these sediments consist of magnesi...

Several new fossil remains of Carnivora from the aragonian (MN 6, local zone G2) localities of Arroyo del Val and La Barranca (near the village of Villafeliche, Zaragoza province) are studied in the present paper. These fossil sites are very closely located, and probably belonging to the same level. The faunal list of Carnivora of both sites includ...

A remarkably complete, well-preserved skull of the Pliocene hunting hyaena Chasmaporthetes lunensis from La Puebla de Valverde (Teruel) is described. This exceptional find allows us to define more clearly the cranial morphology of this taxon, and to put its morphological features into evolutionary and functional perspective. Compared with the sympa...

We describe for the first time the radial sesamoid or “false thumb” of the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), showing its great morphological similarities with that of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and the differences with that of the rest of the Ursidae. This points to the existence of a common origin for this structure in both speci...

Both the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) possess a 'false-thumb', actually an enlarged radial sesamoid bone, which contributes to the gripping action of the hand. These species are not closely related, however, as one is an ursid and the other an ailurid, so the fact that they share this adaptation implies a...

The Late Miocene (Late Vallesian, MN 10, about 9 Mya) carnivore trap of Batallones-1 (Madrid, Spain) has yielded a large sample of two species of sabre-toothed cats: the puma-sized Paramachairodus ogygia and the tiger-sized Machairodus aphanistus. This has allowed, for the first time, complete studies of the biomechanics and comparative anatomy of...

The “false thumb” of pandas is a carpal bone, the radial sesamoid, which has been enlarged and functions as an opposable thumb. If the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) are not closely related, their sharing of this adaptation implies a remarkable convergence. The discovery of previously unknown postcranial re...

We describe for the first time the radial sesamoid or “false thumb” of the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), showing its great morphological similarities with that of the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and the differences with that of the rest of the Ursidae. This points to the existence of a common origin for this structure in both speci...

The skull and cervical anatomy of the sabre-toothed felid Paramachairodus ogygia (Kaup, 1832) is described in this paper, with special attention paid to its functional morphology. Because of the scarcity of fossil remains, the anatomy of this felid has been very poorly known. However, the recently discovered Miocene carnivore trap of Batallones-1,...

We describe the most complete and best−preserved materials assigned to Simocyon from Spain. Specimens come from the late Miocene (Vallesian) locality of Batallones−1, Province of Madrid and are assigned to Simocyon batalleri. Cranial, mandibular and dental anatomy of S. batalleri from Batallones−1 is described and compared with those of known speci...

Human occupants of Europe shared food resources with a number of larger Carnivora, and their coexistence with two lion-sized felids, the lion and the scimitar-toothed machairodont Homotherium latidens, poses intriguing paleoecological problems. We investigate the ecology of Homotherium latidens using an exceptional sample of postcrania from the Spa...

We describe a sample of skulls, mandibles and isolated dentitions of Machairodus aphanistus from the Spanish late Vallesian (late Miocene) site of Batallones-1, near Madrid. This is the first time that the cranial morphology of this species has been seen in detail, and shows that late Vallesian M. aphanistus combined a relatively primitive cranial...

A fossil tracksite of Lower Miocene age discovered near Salinas de Añana, Alava (Spain), has rendered an exceptionally well-preserved assemblage of vertebrate ichnites. The site shows a high proportion of carnivore tracks (3 out of 5 mammal ichnospecies) and a high number of individual trackways (15), some including over 50 consecutive footprints....

Muscle attachments in the mastoid region of the skull of extant felids are studied through dissection of two adult tigers Panthera tigris (Linnaeus, 1758) Pocock, 1930, a lion Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) Pocock, 1930 and a puma Puma concolor (Linnaeus, 1771) Jardine, 1834, providing for the first time an adequate reference for the study of the ev...

The Cerro de 10s Batallones (Los Batallones Butte) is located in the central-northern area of the Madrid Basin, central Spain. Six vertebrate localities containing a large variety of mammals together with amphibians, fishes and plant remains of Upper Vallesian Age (Late Miocene) have been found associated with the sediments forming the butte. From...

The skull morphology of Allosaurus has been the subject of functional interpretations which imply a predatory behaviour radically different from that recorded in any predatory land vertebrate. Those interpretations imply the use of the skull and maxillary dentition as analogues of hand-held, man-made weapons, incorporating the inertia of the predat...

It's a crucial advance, not just scientifically, but as an essential key to dealing, on a human scale, with the huge monster in geology and palaeontology that is Time itself. The standard units we use, millions of years, represent spans so vast that they are pretty well unimaginable, and so are essentially meaningless to the general public: simply...

The complex of lower Pleistocene fossil sites of Incarcal has yielded a remarkably complete sample of cranial and postcranial fossils of the machairodontine felid Homotherium latidens. The range of morphologic variability observed among the Incarcal craniodental material encompasses that of the various taxa previously described for the genus Homoth...

The first fossils ever described from the lower Pleistocene sinkholes of Incarcal corresponded to the giant hyaena, Pachycrocuta brevirostris. During the systematic excavations undertaken in later years at the various sites, fossils of this hyaenid were recovered from the Incarcal I and Incarcal V sinkholes. In this paper we describe these fossils,...

A relatively complete skeleton of the fossil papionin, Theropithecus brumpti, from the site of Lomekwi, west of Lake Turkana, Kenya, is here described. The specimen, KNM-WT 39368, was recovered at the site of LO 5 (3 degrees 51'N and 35 degrees 45'E), from sediments dated to approximately 3.3Ma. The skeleton is that of an old adult male and preserv...

Overview on the mammal faunas from the Lower Pleistocene sites Pla de l'Estany County (Northeastern catalonia)

The morphology of the cervical vertebrae and skull structures associated with the neck musculature was studied in the felid sabertooth Homotherium latidens from the Spanish early Pleistocene site of Incarcal. Cervical anatomy of Homotherium was compared to that of modern pantherine cats, Smilodon, and other sabertoothed carnivores, and the relation...

The morphology of the cervical vertebrae and skull structures associated with the neck musculature was studied in the felid sabertooth Homotherium latidens from the Spanish early Pleistocene site of Incarcal. Cervical anatomy of Homotherium was compared to that of modern pantherine cats, Smilodon, and other sabertoothed carnivores, and the relation...