Megalictis ferox
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Megalictis Temporal range: Miocene |
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| Skull AM 25430 of M. ferox | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Mustelidae |
| Subfamily: | Oligobuninae |
| Genus: | Megalictis |
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Megalictis (great weasel) is an extinct genus of large predatory mustelids, which existed in North America during the "cat gap" in the Miocene period. It is thought to have resembled a large wolverine, with a body mass of up to 60 kilograms (130 lb).
Some writers suggest M. ferox could grow to the size of a black bear, whilst others suggest a less exceptional mass of 20–60 kilograms (44–132 lb), compared to the wolverine of 10–20 kilograms (22–44 lb). Ekorus ekakeran, a comparable mustelid of the same period found in Africa, is estimated to have been around 40 kilograms (88 lb). Matthew described it as having short stout legs, with short feet and long non-retractible claws, similar to a modern wolverine but about twice the size, and noted that "the teeth indicate an animal fully as predaceous as the wolverine, but the skeleton points to more fossorial habits". Research comparing the joints of the forelegs to modern mammalian carnivores suggests that it waited in ambush and grappled with its prey, rather than hunting it down by pursuit like a modern cheetah.
The genus Megalictis was first described by W. D. Matthew in 1907, and assigned to the family Mustelidae. Two similar genera discovered at the same time, Aelurocyon (Peterson, 1907) and Paroligobunis (Peterson, 1910) were identified as synonymous with Megalictis in 1996 though Paroligobunis was re-established as a separate genus in 1998.P. R. Bjork, in 1970, assigned the genus to the subfamily Mellivorinae, whilst J. A. Baskin reassigned it to Oligobuninae in 1998. Three species have been identified in the genus: M. ferox, M. petersoni, and M. frazieri, whilst two more, Megalictis brevifacies and Megalictis simplicidens, have since been determined to be synonymous with M. ferox. Other synonyms of M. ferox include Aelurocyon brevifacies, Brachypsalis simplicidens and Paroligobunis simplicidens.
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