Although they looked very feline, Dinaelurus was in fact a nimravid, a family that shared a common ancestor with cats. Some nimravids developed large saber-toothed forms but weren't closely related to true sabertooths like Smilodon. They had smaller fangs, a short muzzle and rounded forehead more like modern cheetahs.

This is also the ancestor of Clare Bell's fictional Named species in her wonderful series, starting with "Ratha's Creature".

The painting was heavily inspired by a wonderful photo of a Golden cat by Svenimal on DeviantArt.