Sivapardus

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Sivapardus
Temporal range: Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: †Sivapardus
Bakr, 1969
Type species
Sivapardus punjabiensis
Bakr, 1969
Sar-Dhok locality is located in Punjab, Pakistan
Sar-Dhok locality
Sar-Dhok locality
Sar-Dhok locality (Punjab, Pakistan)
Sar-Dhok locality is located in Pakistan
Sar-Dhok locality
Sar-Dhok locality
Sar-Dhok locality (Pakistan)

Sivapardus is an extinct, little-known genus of

Siwaliks in Pakistan; the locality it was found at is estimated to be from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene
. S. punjabiensis was a large cat with a short and broad snout that may have lived on open grasslands.

History and naming

The type and only specimen, U.Z. No. 67/22 (part of the Punjab University Zoology Department Fossil Collection), was collected in 1967 from the Sar Dhok locality in the Pabbi Hills west of Kharain, Gujrat, in western Pakistan. It was described and assigned by Abu Bakr to the new genus and species Sivapardus punjabiensis in 1969. No etymology was given for either name.[1]

Description

The

mandibular ramus with several teeth: the fourth premolar and first molar are damaged but present, but only the roots of the third premolar and the canine tooth remain, and the third incisor is represented only by its tooth socket. The third incisor was situated a little in front of the canine tooth, which itself seems to have been relatively very large. The diastema behind the canine tooth was short. The shape of the third premolar, based on the roots, is typical of cats.[1]

The fourth premolar, though damaged, resembles most felines in having three cusps in a row; the main cusp was likely slightly higher than the

metaconid at all. The molar overall is longer than the fourth premolar, akin to Sivapanthera and unlike Panthera.[1]

Bakr described the species as similar to Sivapanthera in general proportions, with the major difference being the masseteric fossa (the depression where the masseter muscle attaches to the jaw), which in Sivapanthera specimens extended to at least the hind end of the first molar, but in Sivapardus punjabiensis ended abruptly well before the first molar, and the end of the fossa was well-defined and deep; this feature also set it apart from Panthera and Acinonyx. The distinct shape of the masseteric fossa was given as the diagnostic feature of the genus and species.[1]

Based on U.Z. No. 67/22, Bakr described Sivapardus punjabiensis as a cat with a short and broad snout similar to that of the cheetah-like Sivapanthera, larger in size than a leopard but smaller than a lion.[1]

Classification

Bakr classified Sivapardus as a feline, a member of the subfamily Felinae.[1]

Paleoecology

The Sar-Dhok locality is estimated to be of Late

Rhinoceros sondaicus; and the equid Equus sivalensis.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Bakr, Abu (July 1969). "A new genus of large cat from Upper Siwaliks". Pakistan Journal of Zoology. 1 (2): 135–140.
  2. S2CID 210296182
    .
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