Megaviverra Kretzoi & Feijfar 1982

GenusMegaviverraKretzoi & Feijfar, 1982 Type. Megaviverra carpathorum. Included species. Megaviverra vulpidens (comb. nov.) from Langebaanweg ‘ E’ Quarry (Early Pliocene, 5.2 Ma; Churcher et al. 2025), and Megaviverra peii (Qiu, 1980) from “Cap” Travertine at Zhoukoudian (China). Diagnosis. Very large viverrid, larger than the living C. civetta. Skull with long and narrow rostrum and straight dorsal outline; elongated auditory bullae; P 1 – p 1 present; diastemata between C – P 1 / c – p 1 and P 1 – P 2 / p 1 – p 2; P 2 – P 3 elongated; P 2 distal accessory cusp absent; P 3 mesial and distal accessory cusps absent; P 4 parastyle reduced to absent in earlier species and well-developed in later species, P 4 metastyle reduced in length with two clear cusps within it and a notch between both; P 4 lingual cingulum robust; M 1 protocone bunodont with preprotocrista and postprotocrista robust; M 1 lingual area acute with a wider and robust cingulum; M 2 subquadrangular; enlarged p 3 and p 4; m 1 tall, robust, mesoconid present, strong hypoconid and entoconid, and a double hypoconulid in the most distal area of the molar. Entoconid and entoconulid placed in a low lingual rim in older species and well developed in more recent forms; m 2 with bunodont cuspids and oblique cristid between the mesiobuccal to the distobuccal corners. Differential diagnosis. Differs from the Late Miocene Sahelictis in more robust P 4 protocone, shorter P 4 metastyle, M 1 bucolingually shorter with more robust metaconule, preprotocrista, postprotocrista and lingual cingulum; m 1 metaconid longer and broader, and a broader m 1 talonid with a well-developed entoconid; Differs from Promegaviverra in larger size, presence of mandibular diastemata, longer p 3, taller p 4, and m 1 with mesoconid, larger entoconid, and presence of an entoconulid; Differs from the Pliocene Vishnuictis spp. (type Vis. salmontanus), in larger size, longer p 3 and p 4, and a shorter and more slender m 1 talonid, reduced m 2 in size; Differs from Civettictis in larger size, absence of P 3 mesial and distal accessory cusps, a less bunodont dentition, and a more primitive morphology of the carnassials (P 4 and m 1), including a less developed P 4 protocone, a relatively longer P 4 metastyle, P 4 longer than M 1, paraconule and metaconule less developed, smaller M 2, higher m 1 trigonid, both shorter and slenderer m 1 metaconid and talonid with no crista obliqua, and less multiplications of cusps on the talonid; Differs from Viverra in larger size, a more robust dentition comprising a broader P 4 protocone, a broader M 1 preprotocrista, postprotocrista and lingual area of the talon, a relatively shorter m 1 talonid with larger entoconid, and a m 2 with more bunodont cuspids occupying the basin of the tooth. Remarks. The authorship of the genus Megaviverra has been controversial, nonetheless Peigné et al. (2008) clarified it belongs to Kretzoi and Fejfar (1982). Churcher et al. (2025) noted several differences in dentognathic morphology between the Langebaanweg viverrid and Megaviverra. However, these comparisons were based exclusively on the type species, M. carpathorum from Central Europe (Kretzoi and Fejfar 1982; Fejfar and Sabol 2004; Marciszak et al. 2024). The inclusion in this work of the better-known Chinese species M. peii (Fig. 2 J – L) allows a reassessment of its systematic position, leading us to reclassify the South African taxon as Megaviverra vulpidens comb. nov.