Ictitherium

Ictitherium is an extinct genus belonging to the family Hyaenidae and the subfamily Ictitheriinae erected by Trouessart in 1897. Ictitherium species were endemic to Eurasia and Africa during the Middle Miocene through the Early Pliocene (12.7—5.3 mya) and existed approximately 7.4 million years .[1]

Ictitherium robustum

Ictitherium
Temporal range: Middle Miocene–Early Pliocene
Skeletal mount, Tianjin Natural History Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Hyaenidae
Subfamily: †Ictitheriinae
Genus: Ictitherium
Species
  • I. viverrinum
  • I. syvalense
  • ?I. arambourgi
  • ?I. gaudryi
  • ?I. hipparionum
  • ?I. orbingyi
  • ?I. sinence
  • ?I. preforfex

Ictitherium were around 1.2 metres (4 ft) long, and looked more like civets than modern hyenas, possessing a long body with short legs. Judging from the teeth, they were insectivores. Ictitherium was a very successful and abundant genus, with multiple fossils often being found at a single site.[2] Possibly, this early hyena genus lived in packs and had a social order, much like its modern descendants.

References
  1. Paleobiology Database: Ictitherium basic info.
  2. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 221. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.


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