Carnivores derive from a group of insectivores of the miacid family of the late paleocene and eocene.
The first ancestor who lived about 50 million years ago is called Miacis and had an elongated body and short legs. From this ancient ancestor about 10 million years ago, the first felines evolved, including Dinictis and Smilodon.
Dinictis
Similar in size to the current lynx, it had enormous canines and a jaw with strong muscles that could open much more than that of the current cat.
Smilodon
Also called saber-toothed tiger, it had a similar conformation but larger in size. The hunting technique involved using the canines as real daggers.
Order |
Suborder |
Superfamily |
Family |
| Carnivores |
Fissipedi |
Canoidea |
Canici Ursidae Procyonids Mustelids |
| |
|
Feloidea |
Viverrids Hyenids Felids |
| |
Pinnipeds |
|
|
The legends
Legend has it that Apollo created the lion to frighten his sister Artemis and she made it smaller to ridicule it and thus created the cat.
