The first percrocutids are known from the middle Miocene of Europe and western Asia and belonged to the genus Percrocuta. Percrocuta already had large premolars, but did not carry such a massive bite as the later form Dinocrocuta, from the later Miocene.[2] Originally, these carnivores were placed with the hyenas in the family Hyaenidae. As of 2013[update], most scientists considered the Percrocutidae to be a distinct family - although usually as sister-taxa/immediate outgroup to Hyaenidae.[3] Sometimes it was placed with the family Stenoplesictidae into the superfamily Stenoplesictoidea. However, studies in the 2020s placed Dinocrocuta and Percrocuta as true hyaenids, invalidating the family Percrocutidae.[4]
Taxonomy & Evolution
Taxonomic History
Percrocuta was first considered as a side-branch outside of Hyaenidae by Thenius in 1966.[5] It was later named as a different subfamily, Percrocutinae, of Hyaenidae in 1976, and at that time was proposed to include Percrocuta, Adcrocuta eximia, and Allohyaena kadici.[6]Dinocrocuta was elevated from a subgenus to a full genus in 1988.[7]
The family Percrocutidae was formally elevated in 1991, to include the genera Percrocuta, Dinocrocuta, Belbus and Allohyaena.[8]
Later studies have suggested that Belbus and Allohyaena are true hyaenids and not percrocutids.[9]
The list follows McKenna and Bell's Classification of Mammals for prehistoric genera (1997).[10] In contrast to McKenna and Bell's classification, they are not included as a subfamily into the Hyaenidae but as a separate family Percrocutidae.
^Turner, Alan; Antón, Mauricio (2004). Evolving Eden: An Illustrated Guide to the Evolution of the African Large-mammal Fauna. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN0-231-11944-5.
Jordi Agustí: Mammoths, Sabertooths and Hominids 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe, Columbia University Press, 2002. LCCN2001-42251ISBN0-231-11640-3
