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| Felis attica | |
|---|---|
| Skull of Felis attica | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | Felinae |
| Genus: | Felis (?) |
| Species: | F. attica
|
| Binomial name | |
| Felis attica Wagner, 1857
| |
Felis attica is an extinct cat, of which the first fossil skull was excavated near Pikermi in Attica, Greece.[2] Fossils were also excavated near the Moldovan city of Taraclia.[3] It was also discovered in Maragheh, northwestern Iran.[4] F. attica was bigger in body size than a European wildcat but probably smaller than a serval. Due to size differences, it was proposed as type species for the genus Pristifelis proposed in 2012.[5]
Around 12 million years ago, the genus Felis evolved and eventually gave rise to many of the modern small cat species. Felis attica was a small lynx-like cat and one of the ancestors of the first modern Felis species, such as F. lunensis, which evolved around 2.5 million years ago during the Pliocene epoch.[6]
Wikidata ☰ Q5230606 entry