Nimravidae
| Nimravidae Temporal range: Middle Eocene to Late Miocene, 56–7.246 Ma |
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| Hoplophoneus mentalis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: |
†Nimravidae Cope, 1880 |
| Subfamilies | |
Nimravidae is an extinct family of mammalian carnivores, sometimes known as false saber-toothed cats, whose fossils are found in North America, and Eurasia. Not considered to belong to the true cats (family Felidae), the nimravids are generally considered closely related and classified as a distinct family in the suborder Feliformia. Fossils have been dated from the Middle Eocene through the Late Miocene epochs (Bartonian through Tortonian stages, 40.4—7.2 mya), spanning about 33.2 million years.
The barbourofelids were once previously classified as a subfamily of Nimravidae, in 2004, but were reassigned to their own distinct family Barbourofelidae.
Most nimravids had muscular, low-slung, cat-like bodies, with shorter legs and tails than are typical of cats. Unlike extant Feliformia, the nimravids had a different bone structure in the small bones of the ear. The middle ear of true cats is housed in an external structure called an auditory bulla, which is separated by a septum into two chambers. Nimravid remains show ossified bullae with no septum, or no trace at all of the entire bulla. It is assumed that they had a cartilaginous housing of the ear mechanism.
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