miacid

From scientific Latin Miacidae (family name), from Miacis (genus name), of uncertain origin.

miacid (plural miacids)

1. (paleontology) Any member of the Miacidae family of extinct mammals. [from 20th c.]
   • 1971, Thomas H. V. Rich, Deltatheridia, Carnivora, and Condylarthra (Mammalia) of the Early Eocene, Paris Basin, France:

     The trenchant talonid is a character of some miacids and distinguishes these teeth from the hyaenodontids and oxyaenids.

   • 2016 November 26, Elsa Panciroli, “Rifling through the 'wastebaskets' of palaeontology reveals surprises”, in The Guardian‎:

     Miacids were long-bodied, had long tails, were pine marten sized or smaller, and some lived in trees while others spent their time on the ground.

• amidic