Dinictus by Moondawg

Dinictis was a member of the Nimravid family, also known as "false saber-toothed cats". It had a sleek body (1.1 m. long), short legs (0.6 m. high) with only incompletely retractable claws, powerful jaws, and a long tail.

It was very similar to its close relative, Hoplophoneus. The shape of its skull is reminiscent of a felid skull rather than of the extremely short skull of the Machairodontinae. Compared with those of the more recent machairodonts, its upper canines were relatively small, but they nevertheless distinctly protruded from its mouth. Below the tips of the canines its lower jaw spread out in the form of a lobe.

Dinictis walked plantigrade (flat-footed), unlike modern felids. It looked like a small leopard and evidently its mode of life was similar to that of a leopard. It was probably not so particular about its food as its descendants, since reduction of the teeth was still in the early stages and Dinictis had not forgotten how to chew. Despite this, in its own environment it would have been a powerful predator.

It lived in the plains of North America around 40 million years ago in the late Eocene and early Oligocene. Fossils were found in Saskatchewan in Canada, and Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Oregon in the United States. Dinictis likely evolved from an early Miacis-like ancestor which lived in the Paleocene.

Made by request for Pukkie