Machaeroides

Machaeroides ("dagger-like") is an extinct genus of sabre-toothed predatory placental mammals from the extinct subfamily Machaeroidinae within the extinct family Oxyaenidae, that lived in North America (Wyoming) from the early to middle Eocene.

==Description== Both species bore a passing or superficial resemblance to a very small, dog-sized saber-toothed cat. Machaeroides could be distinguished from actual saber-toothed cats by their more-elongated skulls, and their plantigrade stance. Machaeroides species are distinguished from the closely related Apataelurus by the fact that the former genus had smaller saber-teeth. Despite its small size, the genus Machairoides was well-equipped to hunt prey larger than itself, such as the small, primitive horses and rhinoceroses present at the time, as it was equipped with saber teeth and powerful forelimbs to subdue prey.