THE PHYLOGENETIC POSITION OF CRYPTOPROCTA -FEROX (CARNIVORA) - CLADISTIC-ANALYSIS OF THE MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS OF MODERN AND FOSSIL AELUROIDEA CARNIVORA

In order to understand the phylogenetic position of the malagasy carni vore Cryptoprocta ferox, the morphology of different taxa of Aeluroide a Carnivora has been studied. It has been also compared with fossil ta xa Proailurus and Palaeoprionodon. We set up a matrix of 77 characters and 31 taxa. The cladistic analysis suggests that Cryptoprocta is clo ser to Felidae than to any other Aeluroidea. The Miocene Proailurus is the sister-group of Felidae + Cryptoprocta. These inter-relationships are mainly based on dental characters. This study demonstrates that C ryptoprocta must be excluded from the Viverridae in which it is genera lly classified.