Suricata major
| Suricata major Temporal range: Early Pleistocene
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Herpestidae |
| Genus: | Suricata |
| Species: | †S. major
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Suricata major Hendey, 1974[1]
| |
Suricata major is an extinct species of meerkat from the Early Pleistocene of Africa.
Description[edit]
Material from this species has been found at the Elandsfontein fossil site in South Africa.[2][3] Suricata major was larger than the living meerkat, and appears to be intermediate in form between it and Mungos species. Compared to the modern meerkat, its upper cheekteeth were larger and its post-orbital process less well developed.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ Avery, D. Margaret (2019). A Fossil History of Southern African Land Mammals. Cambridge University Press. p. 104. ISBN 9781108480888.
- ^ Werdelin, Lars; Sanders, William Joseph (2010). Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press. p. 631. ISBN 9780520257214.
- ^ Fourvel, Jean-Baptiste (2018). "Civettictis braini nov. sp. (Mammalia: Carnivora), a new viverrid from the hominin-bearing site of Kromdraai (Gauteng, South Africa)". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 17 (6): 366–377. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2017.11.005.
- ^ van Staaden, Moira J. (1994). "Suricata suricata". Mammalian Species. 483 (1): 1–8. doi:10.2307/3504085. JSTOR 3504085.