Miacidae

Miacidae ("small points") is a former paraphyletic family of extinct primitive placental mammals that lived in North America, Europe and Asia during the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, about 65–33.9 million years ago. These mammals were basal to order Carnivora, the crown-group within the Carnivoraformes. Miacids are thought to have evolved into the modern carnivorous mammals of the order Carnivora. They were small carnivores, superficially weasel-like or ferret-like with long, lithe bodies and long tails. Some species were arboreal, while others lived on the ground. They probably fed on invertebrates, lizards, birds, and smaller mammals like shrews and opossums. Their teeth and skulls show that the miacids were less developed than modern carnivorans. They had carnivoran-type carnassials, but lacked fully ossified auditory bullae (rounded protrusions).