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Miacis is a Miacid animal that looked similar to the cat. Scientists believe that cats, dogs and bears, and many of their relatives are all descendants from Miacids. Miacis is one of the most best-known miacoids. Miacis was an early member of the carnivora order of mammals. Like many other early carnivores, Miacis was well suited for climbing lifestyle and had limbs and joints that resemble those to of modern carnivores. Miacis was probably an agile predator that hunted small animals, such as small mammals, reptiles, and birds, and might have also have eaten eggs and fruits, making Miacis an omnivore. Although the Miacis died out 50–63 million years ago, their fossils are still being found in Europe, and North America. The miacis is also believed to be an ancestor of the racoon. It was five-clawed, and about the size of a weasel.
It should also be noted that Miacids led to the Canidae family about 40 million years ago. Wolves, foxes, coyotes, jackals and eventually dogs all evolved from the Canidae family. Most important to the ancestry of the dog was the canoid line, leading from the coyote-sized Mesocyon of the Oligocene (38 to 24 million years ago) to the fox-like Leptocyon and the wolf/dog-like Tomarctus that roamed North America some 10 million years ago. From the time of Tomarctus, dog-like carnivores have expanded throughout the world. Cynodictis emerged about 20 million year ago in the Oligocene and resembled the modern dog. Its fifth toe showed signs of shorting (signs of the development of the dewclaw). Although the civet resembles a cat more than a dog it is said to be a living resemblance of the Cynodictis.
