Cryptoprocta sp. nov. 'Madagascar'
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Conservation Status
Extinct (Lewis et al., 2020; Michielsen et al., 2023; Godfrey et al., 2024)
Last record: late Holocene (Michielsen et al., 2023); >8.3 kyr BP (Godfrey et al., 2024)
Distribution & Habitat
Madagascar
Anatomy & Morphology
It was the largest of the three known species of Cryptoprocta, with an estimated body mass of 27-32kg (Lewis et al., 2020; Godfrey et al., 2024).
Biology & Ecology
It likely preyed upon extinct giant lemurs (Lewis et al., 2020; Godfrey et al., 2024).
Hypodigm
Media
References
Godfrey, Laurie R., Lewis, Margaret E., Crowley, Brooke E. and Klukkert, Zachary S. (2024). Reconstructing behavior in large-bodied, extinct Cryptoprocta species and their impact on Malagasy lemurs past and present, p. 59. In: 93rd Annual Meeting of the American Association of Biological Anthropologists. Los Angeles, California, USA.
Lewis, Margaret E., Godfrey, Laurie R., Rakotondramavo, Jean Claude, Klukkert, Zachary S., Scroxton, Nick, Burns, Stephen J., Crowley, Brooke E., McGee, David, Muldoon, Kathleen M., Meador, Lindsay R., Lehman, Phillip, Rahantaharivao, Noromamy J. and Ranivoharimanana, Lovasoa. (2020). A new extinct large predator in Madagascar: predation pressure on large-bodied Malagasy lemurs through time, p. 160. In: 89th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Los Angeles, California, USA.
Michielsen, Nathan M., Goodman, Steven M., Soarimalala, Voahangy, van der Geer, Alexandra A. E., Dávalos, Liliana M., Saville, Grace I., Upham, Nathan and Valente, Luis. (2023). The macroevolutionary impact of recent and imminent mammal extinctions on Madagascar. Nature Communications 14: 14. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35215-3 [Supplementary Data 1 (mammal list); Supplementary Data 6 (references)]