Sansanosmilus was named by Kretzoi (1929).
It was assigned to Hoplophoneinae by Flynn and Galiano (1982); to Felidae by Carroll (1988); to Barbourofelinae by Bryant (1991); and to Barbourofelidae by Morlo et al. (
2004) and Morlo (2006)
It had short legs, was very muscular and had a long tail.
Sansanosmilus was 1.5 m long and probably weighed around 80 kg.
In 1961, paleontologist L. Ginsburg concluded that Sansanosmilus was possessed of a plantigrade walking stance, after studying its foot bones and comparing it with those of the true felid Pseudaelurus from the same site.
This is different from later barbourofelids, which are believed to have had semi-plantigrade or semi-digitigrade stances.
Sansanosmilus was named by Kretzoi (1929). It was assigned to Hoplophoneinae by Flynn and Galiano (1982); to Felidae by Carroll (1988); to Barbourofelinae by Bryant (1991); and to Barbourofelidae by Morlo et al. (2004) and Morlo (2006)
It had short legs, was very muscular and had a long tail. Sansanosmilus was 1.5 m long and probably weighed around 80 kg. In 1961, paleontologist L. Ginsburg concluded that Sansanosmilus was possessed of a plantigrade walking stance, after studying its foot bones and comparing it with those of the true felid Pseudaelurus from the same site. This is different from later barbourofelids, which are believed to have had semi-plantigrade or semi-digitigrade stances.
Sansanosmilus