Editing Proteles

{{Short description|Genus of mammal}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Late [[Pliocene]] – [[Holocene|Recent]]<br>
<small>(Possible [[Miocene]] record)</small>
| image = Aardwolf ProtelesCristatus56.jpg
| image_caption = [[Aardwolf]] ''(Proteles cristatus)''
| parent_authority = [[Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire|Saint-Hilaire]], 1851
| taxon = Proteles
| authority = Saint-Hilaire, 1824
| type_species = ''[[Proteles cristata|Viverra cristata]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Anders Sparrman|Sparrman]], 1783
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 
*''[[Proteles cristata]]''
*†''[[Proteles amplidentus]]''
}}
'''''Proteles''''' is a genus of distinctive [[hyenas]] which contain the [[aardwolf]] ''(Proteles cristatus)'' and its close fossil relatives.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kingdon |first1=Jonathan |title=Mammals of Africa: Volume V: Carnivores, Pangolins, Equids and Rhinoceroses |date=2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781408189948 |page=282}}</ref> It is the only extant genus of the subfamily '''Protelinae'''.

While the oldest fossils definitely belonging to ''Proteles'' date back to the [[Pliocene]], material from the [[Miocene]] dating to around 10 million years ago has been suggested to belong to the genus, which would significantly increase its temporal range.<ref>{{cite book |title=Paleontology and Geology of Laetoli: Human Evolution in Context Volume 2: Fossil Hominins and the Associated Fauna |date=2011 |publisher=Springer Netherlands |isbn=9789048199624 |page=220}}</ref>

It has been suggested that the Proelinae subfamily may actually be an offshoot of the "running hyenas" (such as ''[[Lycyaena]]'') who adapted to an insectivorous diet due to increased competition from canines and felines.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Koepfli |first1=Klaus-Peter |title=Molecular systematics of the Hyaenidae: relationships of a relictual lineage resolved by a molecular supermatrix |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |date=2006 |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=603–620 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2005.10.017|pmid=16503281 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Carnivora|F.}}
{{Feliformia|Hya.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q18510844}}

[[Category:Carnivoran genera]]
[[Category:Mammal genera with one living species]]
[[Category:Hyenas]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire]]


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