Miacis
Live reconstruction of Miacis
- North America
- Eurasia
Miacis is an extinct genus of carnivorous mammals, whose representatives lived in the Paleocene and Eocene in North America and Eurasia. Miacis and relatives are considered to be ancestors of today's bears, dogs and cats.
Description
Species of the genus Miacis were about 30 inches long; thus they reached the length of today's Wiesel. They had five claws on each foot and mouth 44 teeth. They had a long tail, short legs and a long body. Overall, they looked like dogs.
Way of life
Species of the genus Miacis lived in forests and climbed marten -like on trees. They were first and foremost predators, but probably also sometimes ate fruits and eggs. As prey animals small reptiles, small mammals and birds are.
Your brain was very large in proportion to their body mass. It was also much bigger than the brain which also carnivorous Creodonten.
Habitat
In the Paleocene and Eocene, the whole earth was covered by forests. A perfect habitat for small predators such as Miacis.
Miacis shared its habitat with small tree-dwelling mammals also like Ptilodus. The three meter long mammal Titanoides contrast, lived on the forest floor and in swamps. Although Miacis was a predator, he was not the top predators of its time. The giant bird Gastornis made at that time the forests uncertain. Also the Therapside Chronoperates lived in the Paleocene.
Miacis was very common in his time. When, however, at the end of the Eocene forests disappeared and larger predators such as the Mesonychier and Creodonten spread, Miacis died out.
System
At the genus Miacis include eighteen species.
- Miacis australis
- M. cognitus
- M. German ski
- M. exiguus
- M. hargeri
- M. hookwayi
- M. igniculus
- M. invictus
- M. latidens
- M. latouri
- M. lushiensis
- M. medius
- M. parvivorus
- M. petilus
- M. sylvestris
- M. vulpinus
- M. washakius
- M. uintensis than fossil genus