Cryptoprocta spelea

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Cryptoprocta spelea
Temporal range: Holocene

Extinct (pre 1658)  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Eupleridae
Genus: Cryptoprocta
Species:
†C. spelea
Binomial name
†Cryptoprocta spelea
Subfossil sites for Cryptoprocta species: blue—C. spelea; green—C. ferox and C. spelea; red—C. ferox[2]
Synonyms[3]
  • Cryptoprocta ferox var. spelea G. Grandidier, 1902
  • Cryptoprocta spelea: Petit, 1935
  • Cryptoprocta antamba Lamberton, 1939

Cryptoprocta spelea, also known as the giant fossa,[4] is an extinct species of carnivore from Madagascar in the family Eupleridae which is most closely related to the mongooses and includes all Malagasy carnivorans. It was first described in 1902, and in 1935 was recognized as a separate species from its closest relative, the living fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox). C. spelea was larger than the fossa, but otherwise similar. The two have not always been accepted as distinct species. When and how C. spelea became extinct is unknown; there is some anecdotal evidence, including reports of very large fossas, that there is more than one surviving species.

The species is known from

subfossil bones found in a variety of caves in northern, western, southern, and central Madagascar. In some sites, it occurs with remains of C. ferox, but there is no evidence that the two lived in the same places at the same time. Living species of comparably sized, related carnivores in other regions manage to coexist, suggesting that the same may have happened with both C. spelea and C. ferox. C. spelea would have been able to prey on larger animals than its smaller relative could have, including the recently extinct giant lemurs
.

Taxonomy

In 1902,

neotype).[10]

Lamberton recognized a third species, Cryptoprocta antamba, on the basis of a

monophyletic) group and are most closely related to the mongooses of Eurasia and mainland Africa.[16]

Description

A cat-like mammal
The fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) is a smaller relative of C. spelea that still survives.

Although some

allometric (growth-related), and in their 1986 Mammalian Species account of the fossa, Michael Köhncke and Klaus Leonhardt wrote that the two were morphologically identical.[18] However, remains of C. spelea are larger than any living C. ferox. Goodman and colleagues found that spelea were 1.07 to 1.32 times as large as in adult C. ferox, and postcranial measurements were 1.19 to 1.37 times as large.[9] The only specimen of C. spelea in which condylobasal length (a measure of total skull length) could be ascertained measured 153.4 mm (6.04 in), compared to a range of 114.5 to 133.3 mm (4.51 to 5.25 in) in adult C. ferox. Humerus (upper arm bone) length in twelve C. spelea is 122.7 to 146.8 mm (4.83 to 5.78 in), averaging 137.9 mm (5.43 in), compared to 108.5 to 127.5 mm (4.27 to 5.02 in), averaging 116.1 mm (4.57 in), in the extant fossa.[19] Body mass estimates for C. spelea range from 17 kg (37 lb)[20] to 20 kg (44 lb),[21] and it was among the largest carnivores of the island.[22] By comparison, adult C. ferox range from 5 kg (11 lb) to 10 kg (22 lb).[23]

Distribution and ecology

Collection sites[2]
Site spe. fer.
Ankazoabo +
Antsirabe + +
Behova + +
Beloha + +
Belo sur Mer + +
Bemafandry +
Betioky
 +
Lakaton'ny akanga +
Lelia +
Manombo + +
Tsiandroina +
Tsiravé +
Abbreviations:
  • spe.: C. spelea
  • fer.: C. ferox

Subfossil remains of the giant fossa have been found in

mongooses found in the same areas, suggesting that the two species may have been able to occur together.[2]

With its large size and massive jaws and teeth,

euplerids, and even young Malagasy hippopotamuses.[29]

Extinction

Why and when C. spelea went extinct is not known; it is possible that C. spelea went extinct before 1400.[30] C. spelea is on the IUCN Red List.[1]

Local people on Madagascar often recognize two forms of fossa, a larger fosa mainty (or "black Cryptoprocta") and a smaller fosa mena (or "reddish Cryptoprocta").[31] There are also some anecdotal records of very large living fossas, such as a 2 m (7 ft), 30 kg (70 lb) fossa at Morondava. Goodman and colleagues suggested that further research may demonstrate that there is more than one species of fossa yet alive.[2]

C. spelea is the only extinct carnivoran mammal known from Madagascar;[7] recently extinct (non-carnivoran) Madagascan animals also include large lemurs,[15] elephant birds, and Malagasy hippopotamuses.[32]

The extinction of C. spelea may have changed predation dynamics on Madagascar.

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T136456A45221489.en
    . Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Goodman et al., 2004, p. 141
  3. ^ a b c Goodman et al., 2004, p. 130
  4. ^ Alcover and McMinn, 1994, table 1
  5. ^ Goodman et al., 2004, pp. 130–131
  6. ISSN 0374-5481
    .
  7. ^ a b Goodman et al., 2003, p. 1167
  8. ^ Goodman et al., 2004, p. 131
  9. ^ a b Goodman et al., 2004, p. 136
  10. ^ Goodman et al., 2004, pp. 136–137
  11. ^ Lamberton, 1939, p. 191
  12. ^ Lamberton, 1939, p. 193
  13. ^ Goodman et al., 2003, p. 1169; 2004, p. 131
  14. ^ Turvey, 2009, p. 34
  15. ^ a b Goodman et al., 2004, p. 137
  16. ^ Garbutt, 2007, p. 208
  17. ^ Lamberton, 1939, p. 182
  18. ^ Köhncke and Leonhardt, 1986, p. 2
  19. ^ Goodman et al., 2004, table 1
  20. ^ Personal communication from R. Dewer in Burness et al., 2001, table 1
  21. ^ Wroe et al., 2004, p. 297
  22. ^ Burness et al., 2001, table 1
  23. ^ Garbutt, 2007, p. 211
  24. ^ Goodman et al., 2003, pp. 1167–1168; 2004, pp. 140–141
  25. ^ Goodman et al., 2004, p. 138
  26. ^ Goodman, 2003, quoted in Colquhoun, 2006, p. 148
  27. ^ Goodman et al., 2004, pp. 138–140; Colquhoun, 2006, pp. 148, 156
  28. ^ Goodman, 2003, p. 1227
  29. ^ Alcover and McMinn, 1994, p. 14
  30. ^ Goodman et al., 2004, p. 140
  31. ^ Goodman et al., 2003, p. 1168; 2004, p. 141
  32. ^ Burney et al., 2004, p. 25

Literature cited

External links

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