A New Felid from the Late Miocene of the Balkans and the Contents of the Genus Metailurus Zdansky, 1924 (Carnivora, Felidae)

A well-preserved felid skull from the Turolian (late Miocene) of Karaslari (FY Republic of Macedonia) is described and assigned to a new taxon, Yoshi garevskii, gen. et sp. nov. The new genus Yoshi is characterized by a round, short, and deep skull, and short canines that are somewhat transversely compressed but are not serrated. We assign to the same genus the poorly preserved skulls from the Aegean region described as Metailurus parvulus (Hensel, 1862), the Chinese type of Metailurus minor Zdansky, 1924, as well as some other skulls from China. The latter name thus becomes Y. minor (Zdansky, 1924), but the former name is a nomen dubium. The genus Metailurus Zdansky, 1924, is represented by the type-species M. major Zdansky, 1924; it considerably differs from the forms here referred to the new genus, and is closer to the Machairodontinae. Although definitely more plesiomorphic in dental features, Yoshi, especially Y. garevskii, reaches a high specialization in its skull shape, parallel to that of the cheetah, suggesting that it represents the first attempt towards the morpho-functional model of this modern felid.