Amphictis · Lablypedia

In a nutshell

Amphictis is an extinct genus of ailurid that existed from the Late Oligocene to the Middle Miocene with fossils found in Eurasia and North America with a total of nine described species. The interrelationships of the different species as well as their relationship to the other ailurids is not fully understood. Usually Amphictis is classified in the basal monotypic subfamily Amphictinae, but there is no certainty as the genus could potentially be a paraphyletic with the Oligocene species A. borbonica being a potential sister taxon to the ancestor of the subfamily Ailurinae (today consisting just the red panda), while a Middle Miocene clade consisting of an anagenesis line from A. prolongata–to–A. wintershofensis–to–A. cuspida being closer to the ancestry of the now extinct Simocyoninae (with A. wintershofensis being the sister taxon to the clade). This is due to the nature of their plesiomorphic nature of their anatomy.

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Through Fossil and North America

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Taxonomy

The first and type species was originally described as Viverra antiqua in 1842, but was assigned to a new genus Amphictis in 1853. A second species, Amphictis ambigua (sometimes spelled A. ambiguus) was described in 1872. Another three species, A. japonica, A. sarsi, and A. wyvillei, were described in 1885, but have since been reassigned or synonymized. Further species described include A. milloquensis in 1928, A. borbonica in 1929, A. schlosseri and A. wintershofensis both in 1994, and A. prolongata in 1996.

Another species, A. aginensis, was described in 1973 but was reassigned to the genus Stromeriella in 1996. An eighth species, A. cuspida, was described in 2003 and a ninth, A. timicua, in 2017.

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Monotypic taxonTaxonomic group with only one subordinate taxon Species descriptionFormal description of a discovered species ParaphylyType of taxonomic group IUCN Red ListInventory of the global conservation status of biological species SubtropicsGeographic and climate zone Common nameName generally used for a taxon, group of taxa or organism(s)