Proailurus, the first cat
A lithe, partly arboreal predator in Europe is the earliest member of the cat family.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 2 million years
- Known to
- ± 1 million years
- Era
- Oligocene, Cenozoic
Proailurus, from the late Oligocene of France, is the oldest known felid: roughly the size of a large domestic cat but with a longer body, a long tail and limb and ankle proportions suggesting it climbed well. Every living cat, from the rusty-spotted cat to the tiger, descends from this stock. Cats arrive comparatively late and remain a minor part of the carnivore guild while nimravids and amphicyonids dominate; their expansion into the top predator roles comes only after those groups decline.