Protictis was a
mongoose-like animal that was lightly built. The species had variable sizes. Parts of the
skeleton of
P. haydenianus are known and this species was about long, comparable to the related
Didymictis and the modern-day
Asian civets. The skull of
P. simpsoni shows that this species was larger than
P. haydenianus.
P. minor, on the other hand, was smaller than
P. haydenianus. The morphology of the limb bones of
P haydenianus points at a
scansorial lifestyle.
Protictis had twice as many teeth as modern carnivores. The characteristic
carnassials of carnivores were already clearly developed in
Protictis, but the long and pointy teeth show that
insects were still a major component of this diet.
Endocasts of the skull shows that both
vision and
hearing were important
senses, but the position of the
eye sockets shows that three-dimensional vision was not as well developed as in modern carnivores. ==Classification and phylogeny==