Named By: | Ginsburg in 1978 |
Time Period: | Late Miocene |
Location: | Libya, Gebel Zelten |
Size: | Unavailable |
Diet: | Carnivore |
Fossil(s): | Single specimen of partial remains |
Classification: | | Chordata | Mammalia | Carnivora | Feliformia | Barbourofelidae | |
Albanosmilus is an extinct genus of the family Barbourofelidae. It was previously thought to be constituents of the feliform Nimravidae family of false sabre-toothed cats. It was assigned to Barbourofelinae by Bryant (1991).
It lived during Middle and Upper Miocene in Europe, Asia, and North America. Albanosmilus was comparatively more bulky and muscular than today's large cats, such as the tiger, and probably resembled a bear-like lion. There is only one known specimen of this cat-like creature, Albanosmilus jordani.