Editing Proailurus (section)

==Classification==
The genus ''Proailurus'' was first described by [[Henri Filhol]] in 1879 for fossils found in the Saint-Gerand site in France. He named two species, ''Proailurus lemanensis'', based on a mandible, and ''Proailurus julieni''.<ref name=Filhol1879>{{cite journal |author1=Filhol, Henri |title=Étude des mammifères fossiles de Saint-Gérand le Puy (Allier) |journal=Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études, Section des Sciences Naturelles |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=1–252 |year=1879}}</ref> However, ''P. julieni'' was later placed in the genus ''[[Stenogale]]''.<ref name=Tielhard1915>{{cite journal |author1=Tielhard de Chardin, P. |title=Les carnassiers des phosphorites du Quercy |journal=Ann. Paléontol. |volume=9 |issue=3,4 |pages=1–90 |year=1915}}</ref><ref name=Viret1929>{{cite journal |author1=Viret, J. |title=Les faunes des mammifères de l'Oligocene Supérieur de la Limagne Bourbonnaise |journal=Ann. Univ. Lyon |series=Nouv. Sér. |volume=47 |pages=1–328 |year=1929}}</ref>

In 1882, Filhol described a third species, ''Proailurus medius''.<ref name=Filhol1882>{{cite book |last=Filhol |first=Henri |title=Mémoire sur quelques mammifères fossiles des phosphorites du Quercy. |series=Ann. Soc. sci. phys. nat, Toulouse |pages=1–140 |location=Toulouse |publisher=Impr. Vialelle et cie|year=1882 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/163164#page/11/mode/1up  |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.86309 |oclc=20838884}}</ref> In 1888, Schlosser made ''"P." medius'' the type species of the genus ''[[Haplogale]]''.<ref name=Schlosser1888>{{cite journal |last=Schlosser |first=M. |title=Die Affen, Lemuren, Chiropteren, Insectivoren, Marsupialier, Creodonten und Carnivoren des Europaischen Tertiars. |journal=Beitr. Palaontol. Osterreich-Ungamns |volume=7 |issue=Part II  |pages=371–372 |year=1888 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/50738#page/157/mode/1up }}</ref> ''Haplogale media'''s placement was later confirmed by Robert Hunt's 1998 studies of aeluroid skulls.<ref name=Hunt1998>{{cite journal |author1=Hunt, Robert M. |title=Evolution of the Aeluroid Carnivora: Diversity of the Earliest Aeluroids from Eurasia (Quercy, Hsanda-Gol) and the Origin of Felids |journal=American Museum Novitates |year=1998 |number=3252 |hdl=2246/3156}}</ref>

In 1999, Peigné carried out a systematic review of the genus, naming another two species, ''P. bourbonnensis'' and ''P. major'', in the process. ''P. major'' was based on a single specimen, a left mandible from Quercy and Mainz, while ''P. bourbonnensis'' was based on a number of lower mandibles and teeth, as well as a left [[maxilla]].<ref name=Peigne1999>{{Cite journal |last=Peigné |first=Stéphane |title=''Proailurus'', l'un des plus anciens Felidae (Carnivora) d'Eurasie: systématique et évolution |journal=Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire naturelle de Toulouse |volume=135 |pages=125–134 |year=1999 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256846828}}</ref><ref name=Werdelin2010>{{Cite book |author1=Werdelin, Lars |author2=Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki |author3=Johnson, Warren |author4=O'Brien, Stephen J. |chapter=Phylogeny and evolution of cats (Felidae) |year=2010 |title=Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor1= D.W. Macdonald |editor2=A.J. Loveridge |pages=59–82 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266755142 |isbn=9780199234455}}</ref>