Nimravus was named by Cope (1879) [status called into question by Bryant 1996]. It is the type genus of Nimravidae, Nimravinae. It was assigned to Nimravidae by Cope (1879) and Martin (1998); and to Nimravinae by Flynn and Galiano (1982), Bryant (1991) and Hunt (1998).[2][3] Unrelated to saber-toothed cats, they evolved a similar form through parallel evolution.