Giant fossa

The giant fossa, Cryptoprocta spelea, was a large carnivoran of the Malagasy family Eupleridae and a close relative of the living fossa. It is known from subfossil bones found in caves across northern, western, southern and central Madagascar, and its remains are larger than those of any living fossa, with postcranial bones about one fifth to one third bigger. Estimates of its body mass range from roughly 11 kg to 27 kg, against 5 to 10 kg for the living fossa. With massive jaws and teeth it was a puma-like hunter that probably took prey too big for its smaller cousin, possibly including the giant lemurs. The oldest known subfossils are about 8,300 years old, and when and why the species vanished remains uncertain.