Cryptoprocta spelea is the only extinct carnivoran mammal known from Madagascar;[1] recently extinct Madagascan animals also include at least 17 species of lemurs, most of which are larger than the living forms,[2] as well as elephant birds and Malagasy hippopotamuses, among others.[23] Subfossil remains of the giant fossa have been found in Holocene cave sites[4] from the northern end of Madagascar along the west coast to the far south, and in the central highlands. Some sites have yielded both C. spelea and smaller remains referable to the living species, C. ferox; however, lack of robust stratigraphic knowledge and no available radiocarbon dating on subfossil Cryptoprocta bones makes it uncertain whether the two species lived in the same region at the same time.[24] The size ratio between the two species is within the range of ratios seen between similar-sized living cats and mongooses found in the same areas, suggesting that the two species may have been able to occur together.[2]