Stenailurus
Stenailurus is an extinct genus of metailurin machairodontine cat from the Late Miocene of Spain. It contains a single species, Stenailurus teilhardi . It was described based on a piece of maxilla in 1972.
Discovery and naming
The generic name Stenailurus honors Bl. Niels Steensen, considered the father of paleontology, combined with the Greek αἴλουρος/ meaning "cat". The specific name teilhardi honors paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.Description
Stenailurus shows basal features of machairodonts such as the presence of a P2 tooth.In 2014, a study describing the genus Yoshi compares the morphology of teeth from multiple metailurines. Among these, the measurements of the canine teeth of Stenailurus were recorded as having a length of 44.4 mm and a mesiodistal diameter of 17 mm. This is mentioned to be comparable to the genera Fortunictis acerensis and Metailurus major.