A new carnivoraform from the early Oligocene of Libya: Oldest known record of Carnivoramorpha in Africa

Carnivoraformes is a clade comprised of members of the Carnivora, as well as the paraphyletic assemblage of stem taxa previously united under the “Miacidae”. Here we describe the earliest known African occurrence of a carnivoraform from the early Oligocene Zallah Incision locality in the Sirt Basin of central Libya. The new taxon is represented by three teeth (m1, P4, and dP3), all of which are carnassial loci diagnostic of the Carnivoraformes. Despite its meager anatomical representation, the new Libyan carnivoraform possesses numerous characters that distinguish it from contemporaneous African hyaenodonts, including the retention of a large m1 metaconid, an enlarged and transversely oriented P4 metastyle, and the absence of a metacone on dP3, among other features. The generally primitive nature of known tooth loci and the absence of clear synapomorphies with crown carnivorans suggest that the new carnivoraform may be a relatively basal member of the clade. If so, the new Libyan taxon would be the only known African occurrence of a basal carnivoraform. •Africtis sirtensis is a new basal carnivoraform from the early Oligocene of Libya.•A. sirtensis is the earliest definitive occurrence of a carnivoramorphan in Africa.•A. sirtensis antedates the tectonic collision between Africa and Eurasia.•A. sirtensis must have colonized Africa via sweepstakes dispersal across Tethys.