Percrocutidae

Percrocutidae is an extinct family of hyena-like feliform carnivorans endemic to Asia, Africa, and Southern Europe from the Middle Miocene through the Pliocene, existing for about 8 million years.^[1]

Percrocutidae Temporal range: Middle Miocene to Late Pliocene
Dinocrocuta gigantea skull cast, Zoological Museum in Copenhagen
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Superfamily:	Herpestoidea
Family:	†Percrocutidae Werdelin & Solounias, 1991
Genera
†Dinocrocuta †Percrocuta

The first percrocutids are known from the middle Miocene of Europe and western Asia and belonged to the genus Percrocuta. Percrocuta already had large premolars, but did not carry such a massive bite as the later form Dinocrocuta, from the later Miocene.^[2] Originally, these carnivores were placed with the hyenas in the family Hyaenidae. As of 2022^[update], most scientists considered the Percrocutidae to be a distinct family that evolved their morphology similar to hyenas due convergent evolution,^[3] - although they are usually placed sister-taxa/immediate outgroup to Hyaenidae.^[4] Sometimes it was placed with the family Stenoplesictidae into the superfamily Stenoplesictoidea. A 2022 study placed Dinocrocuta and Percrocuta as true hyaenids, which if correct would invalidate the family Percrocutidae.^[3]

Taxonomy and evolution

Taxonomic history

Percrocuta was first considered as a side-branch outside of Hyaenidae by Thenius in 1966.^[5] It was later named as a different subfamily, Percrocutinae, of Hyaenidae in 1976, and at that time was proposed to include Percrocuta, Adcrocuta eximia, and Allohyaena kadici.^[6] Dinocrocuta was elevated from a subgenus to a full genus in 1988.^[7]

The family Percrocutidae was formally elevated in 1991, to include the genera Percrocuta, Dinocrocuta, Belbus and Allohyaena.^[8]

Later studies have suggested that Belbus and Allohyaena are true hyaenids and not percrocutids.^[9]

Classification

Family	Image	Genus	Species
†Percrocutidae		†Dinocrocuta (Schmidt-Kittler, 1975)	†D. algeriensis †D. gigantea †D. salonicae †D. senyureki
		†Percrocuta (Kretzoi, 1938)	†P. abessalomi †P. carnifex †P. grandis †P. leakeyi †P. miocenica †P. tobieni †P. tungurensis †P. xixiaensis

The list follows McKenna and Bell's Classification of Mammals for prehistoric genera (1997).^[10] In contrast to McKenna and Bell's classification, they are not included as a subfamily into the Hyaenidae but as a separate family Percrocutidae.