What is Miacis?
{{italictitle}} {{Taxobox | name = ''Miacis'' | fossil_range = [[Palaeocene]] to late [[Eocene]] | image = Miacis.jpg | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | subphylum = [[Vertebrate|Vertebrata]] | classis = [[Mammal]]ia | superordo = [[Carnivoramorpha]] | ordo = [[Carnivora]] | familia = [[Miacidae]] | genus = '''''Miacis''''' | genus_authority = [[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope]], 1872 }} [[File:Miacisreconstructedskull2.png|thumb|right|250px|Reconstructed skull of ''Miacis'']] '''''Miacis''''' is a small [[extinct]] [[carnivore]] of the family [[Miacidae]]. They were small [[mammals]] which lived in forests and climbed trees, and ate small prey. They had the [[Ancestor|ancestral]] mammalian number of 44 [[teeth]]. In later members the number of teeth began to be reduced. ''Miacis'' had brains that were relatively larger than those of the [[creodont]]s. The larger brain size compared to body size suggests their [[behaviour]] was becoming more flexible, and possibly more intelligent. Miacids are either early members of the [[order (biology)|order]] [[Carnivora]] or in a larger group called the [[Carnivoramorpha]]. They may not be [[monophyletic]]. One [[professional]] opinion is that most ''Miacis'' species belong to the ancestors of the modern order, the [[crown group|crown-group]] [[Carnivora]].<ref>Wesley-Hunt G.D. & Flynn J.J. 2005. Phylogeny of the Carnivora: basal relationships among the Carnivoramorphans, and assessment of the position of 'Miacoidea' relative to Carnivora. ''Journal of Systematic Paleontology'', '''3''': 1-28. [http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1017/S1477201904001518#.UwMKddtKWHM]</ref><ref>Spaulding M; Flynn J.J; Stucky R.K. 2010. A new basal Carnivoramorphan (Mammalia) from the ‘Bridger B’ (Black’s Fork Member, Bridger Formation, Bridgerian NALMA, Middel Eocene) of Wyoming, USA. ''Paleontology'' '''53''': 815-832. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.00963.x</ref> The miacids lived 50 to 60 million years ago and were small [[Omnivore|omnivorous]] [[predators]]. According to one source, it preyed on smal