Barbourofelis is an extinct genus of large, predatory, feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Barbourofelidae (false saber-tooth cats).
Species in this genus had the longest canines of all the barbourofelids, which were also flattened, indicating a high degree of specialization to its diet.
It had a very robust constitution, with B. morrisi intermediate between the size of Sansanosmilus and B. fricki, which is thought to have been a particularly large predator and the largest of all barbourofelids.
Such a long period of dependence would have likely led to situations in which near-adult cubs would have likely helped to restrain prey while their mother made the kill.
[4] Barbourofelis loveorum's environment in the Love Bone Beds deposits (of Clarendonian Age) was a mixture of grassland, riverine forest, and marshes, in which it would have shared territory with herbivorous animals like the amphibious rhinoceros Teleoceras, the protoceratid Synthetoceras, the camel Aepycamelus, horses like Neohipparion and Nannippus, and carnivores like the machairodont cat Nimravides, the dogs Epicyon and Borophagus, and the bear Agriotherium.