Cat Evolution
All modern carnivorans, including cats, evolved from miacoids, which existed from approximately 65 to 33 million years ago. Miacoid species gave rise to Proailurus (meaning "first cat"; also called "Leman's Dawn Cat"), which appeared about 30 million years ago, and is generally considered the first "true cat". There were other cat-like species before Proailurus, but not within the family of the order Carnivora.
| “ | Following the appearance of the dawn cat, there is little in the fossil record for 10 million years to suggest that cats would prosper. In fact, although Proailurus persisted for at least 14 million years, there are so few felid fossils towards the end of the dawn cat's reign that paleontologists refer to this as the "cat gap". The turning point for cats came about with the appearance of a new genus of felids, Pseudaelurus | ” |
The increase in disparity through the early Miocene occurs during a time when few feliform fossils have been found in North America. The hypercarnivorous nimravid feliforms were extinct in North America after 26 Ma and felids did not arrive in North America until the Middle Miocene with the appearance of Pseudaelurus. Pseudaelurus crossed over to North America by way of the Bering land bridge from surviving populations in Asia 18.5 million years ago. All modern-day cats are descended from Pseudaelurus.
Nimravids were saber-toothed cat-like animals of the family Nimravidae. Although not "true cats" in the Felidae family, Nimravidae are considered to be a sister taxon to felids. They are basal feliforms, but their exact placement within the Carnivora group is still uncertain. Physically, Nimravidae resembled the Smilodon (which would not evolve until many millions of years later). Nimravidae also became extinct in North America during the "cat gap."
Read more about this topic: Cat Gap
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