Barbourofelis (Nimravidae) and Nimravides (Felidae), with a Description of Two New Species from the Late Miocene of Florida

Abstract

A new species of Barbourofelis and a new species of Nimravides are described from the latest Clarendonian (late Miocene) Love Bone Bed local fauna, Alachua Co., Florida. The genus Barbourofelis is placed in the Nimravidae, a family characterized by a specialized dentition and by a primitive basicranium lacking a septum bullae. The Nimravidae are not ancestral to the Felidae. Barbourofelis is a member of the subfamily Hoplophoneinae, which also includes Hoplophoneus, Sansanosmilus, and Eusmilus. Nimravides, a true felid, possesses a septum bullae and is apparently derived from a North American species of Pseudaelurus.