Hyainailouridae

Hyainailouridae Temporal range: middle Eocene to middle Miocene
Comparison of various Early to Middle Miocene hyaenodonts, including the hyainailurids Hyainailouros sulzeri (top) and Megistotherium osteothlastes (center), and teratodontid Dissopsalis pyroclasticus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Hyaenodonta
Superfamily:	†Hyainailouroidea
Family:	†Hyainailouridae Pilgrim, 1932
Type genus
†Hyainailouros (polyphyletic genus) Biedermann, 1863
Subfamilies
[see classification]
Synonyms
Hyaenaelurinae (Pilgrim, 1932) Pterodontidae (Polly, 1996) Pterodontinae (Polly, 1996)

Hyainailouridae ("hyena-cats") is a family of extinct predatory mammals within the superfamily Hyainailouroidea within extinct order Hyaenodonta. Hyaenodontids arose during the middle Eocene and persisted well into the middle Miocene. Fossils of this group have been found in Asia, Africa, North America and Europe.

General characteristics

Hyainailourids are characterized by long skulls, slender jaws, slim bodies, and a plantigrade stance. They generally ranged in size from 30 to 140 cm at the shoulder. While some measured as much as 1.4 m high at the shoulder with head-body length up to 3.2 m and weighed up to 1,500 kg, most were in the 5–15 kg range, equivalent to a mid-sized dog. The anatomy of their skulls show that they had a particularly acute sense of smell, while their teeth were adapted for shearing, rather than crushing.

At least one hyainailourid lineage, Apterodontinae, was specialised for aquatic, otter-like habits.

Range

The oldest member of the Hyainailouridae is Orienspterodon from the middle Eocene of China. They were important hypercarnivores in Eurasia and Africa during the Oligocene, but gradually declined, with almost the entire family becoming extinct by the close of the Oligocene. Only Simbakubwa, Megistotherium and several of its sister genera, including Hyainailouros and Sivapterodon, survived into the Miocene. Traditionally this has been attributed to competition with carnivorans, but no formal examination of the correlation between the decline of hyaenodontids and the expansion of carnivorans has been recorded, and the latter may simply have moved into vacant niches after the extinction of hyaenodontid species.

Classification and phylogeny

Relations

Hyainailouridae used to be considered a subfamily of Hyaenodontidae, but cladistic study by Sole et al., (2013, 2015) treats it as a distinct family. Two subfamilies are recognized, Apterodontinae and paraphyletic Hyainailourinae.

Taxonomy

• Family: †Hyainailouridae (Pilgrim, 1932)
  • (unranked): †Maocyon/Orienspterodon clade
    • Genus: †Maocyon (Averianov, 2023)
      • †Maocyon peregrinus (Averianov, 2023)
    • Genus: †Orienspterodon (Egi, 2007)
      • †Orienspterodon dahkoensis (Chow, 1975)
      • †Orienspterodon mianchiensis (Sheng, Bi & Li, 2024)
  • Subfamily: †Apterodontinae (Szalay, 1967)
    • Genus: †Apterodon (Fischer, 1880)
      • †Apterodon altidens (Schlosser, 1910)
      • †Apterodon gaudryi (Fischer, 1880)
      • †Apterodon langebadreae (Grohé, 2012)
      • †Apterodon macrognathus (Andrews, 1904)
      • †Apterodon rauenbergensis (Frey, 2010)
      • †Apterodon saghensis (Simons & Gingerich, 1976)
    • Genus: †Quasiapterodon (Lavrov, 1999)
      • †Quasiapterodon minutus (Schlosser, 1910)
  • Subfamily: †Hyainailourinae ^{(paraphyletic subfamily)} (Pilgrim, 1932)
    • Genus: †Megistotherium (Savage, 1973)
      • †Megistotherium osteothlastes (Savage, 1973)
    • Genus: †Mlanyama (Rasmussen & Gutierrez, 2009)
      • †Mlanyama sugu (Rasmussen & Gutierrez, 2009)
    • Genus: †Pakakali (Borths & Stevens, 2017)
      • †Pakakali rukwaensis (Borths & Stevens, 2017)
    • Genus: †Simbakubwa (Borths & Stevens, 2019)
      • †Simbakubwa kutokaafrika (Borths & Stevens, 2019)
    • (unranked): †Akhnatenavus clade
      • Genus: †Akhnatenavus (Holroyd, 1999)
        • †Akhnatenavus leptognathus (Osborn, 1909)
        • †Akhnatenavus nefertiticyon (Borths, 2016)
      • Genus: †Hemipsalodon (Cope, 1885)
        • †Hemipsalodon grandis (Cope, 1885)
        • †Hemipsalodon viejaensis (Gustafson, 1986)
      • Genus: †Ischnognathus (Stovall, 1948)
        • †Ischnognathus savagei (Stovall, 1948)
    • Tribe: †Hyainailourini (Ginsburg, 1980)
      • Genus: †Exiguodon (Morales & Pickford, 2017)
        • †Exiguodon pilgrimi (Savage, 1965)
      • Genus: †Falcatodon (Morales & Pickford, 2017)
        • †Falcatodon schlosseri (Holroyd, 1999)
      • Genus: †Hyainailouros (Biedermann, 1863)
        • †Hyainailouros bugtiensis (Pilgrim, 1912)
        • †Hyainailouros napakensis (Ginsburg, 1980)
        • †Hyainailouros sulzeri (Biedermann, 1863)
      • Genus: †Parapterodon (Lange-Badré, 1979)
        • †Parapterodon lostangensis (Lange-Badré, 1979)
      • Genus: †Sectisodon (Morales & Pickford, 2017)
        • †Sectisodon markgrafi (Holroyd, 1999)
        • †Sectisodon occultus (Morales & Pickford, 2017)
      • Genus: †Sivapterodon (Ginsburg, 1980)
        • †Sivapterodon lahirii (Pilgrim, 1932)
      • Subtribe: †Isohyaenodontina (Lavrov, 1999)
        • Genus: †Isohyaenodon (Savage, 1965)
          • †Isohyaenodon andrewsi (Savage, 1965)
          • †Isohyaenodon zadoki (Savage, 1965)
      • (unranked): †Pterodon clade
        • Genus: †Kerberos (Solé, 2015)
          • †Kerberos langebadreae (Solé, 2015)
        • Subtribe: †Pterodontina (Lavrov, 1999)
          • Genus: †Pterodon (Blainville, 1839)
            • †Pterodon dasyuroides (Blainville, 1839)
        • Incertae sedis:
          • †"Pterodon" syrtos (Holroyd, 1999)
      • Incertae sedis:
        • †"Pterodon" africanus (Andrews, 1903)
        • †"Pterodon" phiomensis (Osborn, 1909)
    • Tribe: †Leakitheriini (Lavrov, 1999)
      • Genus: †Leakitherium (Savage, 1965)
        • †Leakitherium hiwegi (Savage, 1965)
    • Tribe: †Metapterodontini (Morales & Pickford, 2017)
      • Genus: †Metapterodon (Stromer, 1926)
        • †Metapterodon brachycephalus (Osborn, 1909)
        • †Metapterodon kaiseri (Stromer, 1926)
        • †Metapterodon stromeri (Morales, 1998)
    • Tribe: †Paroxyaenini (Lavrov, 2007)
      • Genus: †Paroxyaena (Martin, 1906)
        • †Paroxyaena galliae (Filhol, 1881)
        • †Paroxyaena pavlovi (Lavrov, 2007)