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Dinictis (terrible cat) belonged to the Genus Nimravidae, which is an extinct family of cat-like mammalian carnivores, also known as "false saber-toothed cats." Dinictis felina was named by the American paleontologist Joseph Leidy in 1854. Dinictis is found from Canada through the central-western states down through Colorado. It existed from the Late Eocene to the Early Miocene epochs (37.2-20.4 MYA), living for about 16.8 million years.
Dinictis' body was a sleek 3.6 feet long and 2 feet high. Its claws were not completely retractable. Dinictis and other Nimravids walked flat footed (plantigrade), unlike current day cats which walk on their toes (dentigrade). It had strong jaws and a long tail. Its size and shape were similar to a close relative - Hoplophoneus. Its upper canines were relatively small, but still protruded distinctively from its mouth and the lower jaw was flared at the front sides to protect the upper canines. Dinictis' teeth were shorter and more rounded than those of Hoplophoneus and Eusmilus (whose teeth were thinner and laterally compressed), indicatiing that they were more likely to have been used to physically hold the prey while it was still struggling or to bite through the skull or spine to kill its prey. Because of its size, Dinictis would have probably been an ambush hunter, waiting for vegetarian browsers to put themselves in harms way during feeding.
Animals at the top of the food chain are usually rarer than the prey at the bottom. Their numbers were fewer and therefor their remains would be fewer. We are pleased to be able to offer several specimens from this rare species.
The replacement minerals in teeth from the Nebraska and South Dakota areas allow them to fluoresce. The teeth themselves will fluoresce a yellow to yellow-orange (due to replacement by calcite) under long wave ultraviolet light (as you see in the first photo) and a slightly darker yellow to yellow-orange under short wave ultraviolet light as you see below. Under either long or short wave lighting any purple showing on the specimen is the lights reflecting off the light colored areas of the fossil and is not fluorescense. Any green is caused by the presence of chalcedony. Be sure to look for them in the regular fossil section under teeth in the Nebraska and South Dakota pages. The item number will be the same as here, except without the trailing "F." You can also see a few fossil specimens from Nebraska under all three lighting conditions by going to the main fluorescent page and clicking on the view specimen material from Nebraska link at the top of the page.
Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Clade: Synapsida, Class: Mammalia, Order: Carnivora, Family: Nimravidae, Sub-Family: Nimravinae, Genus: Dinictis, Species: Felina.
Dinictis felina - "false saber-toothed cat"
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Quantity in Basket:
None
Code: TNEC-106F
Price: $30.00
Shipping Weight: 0.27 pounds
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Time: Late Eocene to Early Miocene, approximately 37.2 - 20.4 million years ago.
Location: Shalimar Ranch, White River Formation, Brule Member, Souix County, Nebraska.
Dimensions: 15/16" x 1/2" x 1/4"
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