Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia:Carnivora)
The Cooper’s Cave System has produced a diverse fossil assemblage including the remains of Paranthropus robustus Broom, 1938, and early Homo. The majority of the faunal remains come from Cooper’s D, which dates to ~1.5 – 1.4 Ma. Here we describe 158 craniodental and postcranial felid fossils from Co...
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| Format: | Article |
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Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42734/ |
| _version_ | 1848796555939676160 |
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| author | O'Regan, Hannah J. Steininger, Christine M. |
| author_facet | O'Regan, Hannah J. Steininger, Christine M. |
| author_sort | O'Regan, Hannah J. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The Cooper’s Cave System has produced a diverse fossil assemblage including the remains of Paranthropus robustus Broom, 1938, and early Homo. The majority of the faunal remains come from Cooper’s D, which dates to ~1.5 – 1.4 Ma. Here we describe 158 craniodental and postcranial felid fossils from Cooper’s D, including Dinofelis cf. aronoki. These fossils indicate the presence of four large felid genera at Cooper’s D: Dinofelis, Megantereon, Panthera (two species) and Acinonyx, plus two smaller taxa: Caracal and Felis. This assemblage may mark the first appearance of the modern cheetah Acinonyx jubatus (Schreber, 1775) in Africa, as well the first occurrence of the East African species Dinofelis cf. aronoki in southern Africa. This taxon appears intermediate in features between Dinofelis barlowi (Broom, 1937) and Dinofelis piveteaui (Ewer, 1955). We compare the Cooper’s D felid assemblage with those from other sites in the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, and discuss several scenarios for the evolution of the genus Dinofelis in eastern and southern Africa. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:49:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-42734 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:49:51Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-427342020-05-04T18:53:25Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42734/ Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia:Carnivora) O'Regan, Hannah J. Steininger, Christine M. The Cooper’s Cave System has produced a diverse fossil assemblage including the remains of Paranthropus robustus Broom, 1938, and early Homo. The majority of the faunal remains come from Cooper’s D, which dates to ~1.5 – 1.4 Ma. Here we describe 158 craniodental and postcranial felid fossils from Cooper’s D, including Dinofelis cf. aronoki. These fossils indicate the presence of four large felid genera at Cooper’s D: Dinofelis, Megantereon, Panthera (two species) and Acinonyx, plus two smaller taxa: Caracal and Felis. This assemblage may mark the first appearance of the modern cheetah Acinonyx jubatus (Schreber, 1775) in Africa, as well the first occurrence of the East African species Dinofelis cf. aronoki in southern Africa. This taxon appears intermediate in features between Dinofelis barlowi (Broom, 1937) and Dinofelis piveteaui (Ewer, 1955). We compare the Cooper’s D felid assemblage with those from other sites in the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, and discuss several scenarios for the evolution of the genus Dinofelis in eastern and southern Africa. Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris 2017-06-30 Article PeerReviewed O'Regan, Hannah J. and Steininger, Christine M. (2017) Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia:Carnivora). Geodiversitas, 39 (2). pp. 315-332. ISSN 1638-9395 Cooper’s Cave Felinae Machairodontinae Dinofelis cf. aronoki Megantereon Panthera Acinonyx Caracal Felis http://www.bioone.org/doi/10.5252/g2017n2a8 doi:10.5252/g2017n2a8 doi:10.5252/g2017n2a8 |
| spellingShingle | Cooper’s Cave Felinae Machairodontinae Dinofelis cf. aronoki Megantereon Panthera Acinonyx Caracal Felis O'Regan, Hannah J. Steininger, Christine M. Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia:Carnivora) |
| title | Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia:Carnivora) |
| title_full | Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia:Carnivora) |
| title_fullStr | Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia:Carnivora) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia:Carnivora) |
| title_short | Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia:Carnivora) |
| title_sort | felidae from cooper’s cave, south africa (mammalia:carnivora) |
| topic | Cooper’s Cave Felinae Machairodontinae Dinofelis cf. aronoki Megantereon Panthera Acinonyx Caracal Felis |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42734/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42734/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/42734/ |