Pratifelis
Pratifelis is an extinct genus of feline that lived in North America during the middle Miocene period. It contains a single species, "Pratifelis martini". Etymology. The generic name "Pratifelis" comes from the Latin words "pratum" meaning field or plain, and "felis", meaning cat. The specific name "martini" was given in honor of a Mr. Martin who originally collected the fossils. Taxonomy. In the summer of 1911, the first and only specimen was collected by H. T. Martin in Wallace County, Kansas. It was transported to the University of Kansas Museum of Vertebrate Paleontology, where it was named and described  by paleontologist Claude W. Hibbard as a new genus and species of feline in 1934. In a 1954 paper J. R. Macdonald reassigned the species to the genus "Pseudaelurus", but later papers maintained its status as a distinct and valid genus. A 2003 paper by Tom Rothwell, who had seen casts of the specimen, mentioned in passing that it had some similarity to specimens of "Nimravides", and that an examination of the original specimen might result in a reassignment to that genus. Description. The single specimen upon which both the genus and species were based, UKMNH 3156, is a partial  lower left ramus with only the third and fourth premolars and the first molar present. It has been noted for having fairly heavy dentition considering how light its jaw was. "P. martini" was a short-faced cat, likely bigger than the modern cougar.