Patriofelis fossil map
Where fossils of Patriofelis have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 45 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 45 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 51.1–37.71 million years ago (Ypresian to Bartonian) |
| Periods | Paleogene |
| Family | Oxyaenidae |
| Named by | Leidy 1870 |
| Fossil records | 46 occurrences at 11 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States |
| Rock formations | Bridger, Washakie, Aycross, Huerfano, Clarno, Wasatch |
About Patriofelis
Patriofelis ("father of cats") is an extinct genus of carnivorous placental mammals from the extinct subfamily Oxyaeninae within the extinct family Oxyaenidae, which lived from the early to middle Eocene, during the Bridgerian stage of NALMA. The first remains were discovered in 1869 by geologist Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, and the genus was named the following year by Joseph Leidy. Over the next few decades, additional specimens would be named from the same locality (or similar ones), many assigned to genera of their own or to separate species within Patriofelis. Now, only two are recognised: Patriofelis ulta, the type species, from the lower Bridger Formation and the Huerfano Formation of Colorado, and P. ferox, from the lower Bridger and lower Washakie Formations of Wyoming and Colorado, and the Clarno Formations at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Patriofelis (revision 1380959405), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q1079152.
