Stenoplesictis

Stenoplesictis is an extinct genus of enigmatic aeluroid carnivoran restricted to western Europe that lived during the Oligocene epoch. It was named by Henri Filhol in 1880 and contains the type species S. cayluxi as well as two other species, S. minor and S. crocheti. While several additional species from Asia and Africa had been assigned to it, S. muhoronii is the only species of Stenoplesictis needing a reassignment to another genus.

Species of Stenoplesictis were generally small-sized, with the smallest one, S. minor, being the size of mongooses of the genus Helogale. Stenoplesictis differs from other stenoplesictid relatives like Palaeoprionodon and Haplogale in several traits, including a flattened upper face of the skull, a narrow snout, and specific differences in the auditory region and dentition. It appeared by the Early Oligocene along with various other carnivorans including other stenoplesictids, and lasted up to the Late Oligocene.