Ginsburgsmilus is an extinct genus of carnivorous mammal of the family Barbourofelidae (false saber-tooth cats) endemic to Africa during the early Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

. There is only one known specimen of Ginsburgsmilus napakensis, dated to 20-19 mya.

Taxonomy

Ginsburgsmilus was named by Morales et al. (2001). It was assigned to Barbourofelidae by Morlo et al. (2004) and Morlo (2006).

A team led by Jorge Morales described Ginsburgsmilus as a new genus in the Barbourofelidae

Barbourofelidae

Barbourofelidae is an extinct family of mammalian carnivores of the suborder Feliformia, which lived in North America, Eurasia and Africa during the Miocene epoch , existing for approximately .- Taxonomy :...

family in 2001 from fossil material previously identified as Afrosmilus turkanae.

External links

• A new tribe, new genus and two new species of Barbourofelinae