Dental and tarsal anatomy of “Miacis” latouri and a phylogenetic analysis of the earliest carnivoraforms (Mammalia, Carnivoramorpha)

The earliest-Eocene Dormaal sample includes nearly complete deciduous and permanent dental representation plus catalogued astragali and a calcaneum; the new-genus assignment and basal carnivoraform position are morphology-matrix interpretations rather than crown membership or direct ancestry.

The Dormaal sample supports Dormaalocyon latouri and a basal carnivoraform placement in the published matrix; it is not promoted into crown Carnivora or direct ancestry.

The profile is restricted to the Dormaal locality in Belgium and does not establish the complete early carnivoraform distribution.

Dental and tarsal anatomy support small-faunivore and arboreal-capability inferences, while diet and habitual locomotion were not directly observed.

IRSNB M2095–M2099 document dentition and IRSNB M2107–M2109 document astragali and a calcaneum in the catalogued sample.

The 56–55.8 Ma envelope is the bounded Dormaal sample context, not a crown-Carnivora FAD, genus LAD or lineage duration.

The 56–0 Ma Carnivora route is a total-group evidence anthology: the Dormaal Carnivoraformes sample anchors the older bound and living crown carnivorans extend to the present; it is not a crown-Carnivora FAD or ancestor chain.