Tag: saber tooth
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5 million-year-old fossils reveal 2 new species of saber-toothed cats in South Africa
LiveScience has a story about some fossil discoveries in South Africa. Two new species of saber-toothed cats, Dinofelis werdelini and Lokotunjailurus chimsamyae, have been discovered near the town of Langebaanweg on the west coast of South Africa. These animals lived about 5.2 million years ago. While excavating the fossil bones, two known species were also found,…
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Eight Menacing Saber-Toothed Creatures That Stalked the Earth Long Ago
Smithsonian Magazine has an interesting story about some extinct saber-toothed animals. The eight animals highlighted lived in various times – ranging from the Permian to more recent times. The list includes saber-toothed cats, a giant plant eater, a newly discovered, huge carnivore from South Africa (Inostrancevia africana, which we posted on last week), and even…
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Fossil of sabre-toothed mammal ancestor discovered
Nature has a story about a sabre-toothed mammal. Fossils of a new large protomammal have been discovered in South Africa. Inostrancevia africana lived about 251.9 million years ago in what is now the Karoo Basin. This gorgonopsid was described in a paper recently published in the journal Current Biology. Jennifer Botha, professor at the Evolutionary Studies…
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Nature: Newly Identified Species of Saber-Toothed Cat Was So Big It Hunted Rhinos in America
Nature as an article about the identification of a new species of large saber-toothed cat. The animal, Machairodus lahayishupup, lived between 5 and 9 million years ago in North America. It’s larger than its ancient relative Smilodon, weighing in around 600 pounds or larger. The research has been published in the Journal of Mammalian Evolution. A…
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NYT: Baby Mammoths Were Meals for These Saber-Tooth Cats
The New York Times Trilobites column has a story about baby mammoths and saber-tooth cats. A recent paper in Current Biology provides evidence of saber-tool cats preying on baby mammoths. The research looked at fossils found in suburban San Antonio, Texas. When most people think of saber-tooth cats, they think of North America’s Smilodon. But…
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Saber-tooth Cat Extinction
Vanderbilt University: (hat tip, Dave Carlson, ESCONI Discussion Group) In the period just before they went extinct, the American lions and saber-toothed cats that roamed North America in the late Pleistocene were living well off the fat of the land. That is the conclusion of the latest study of the microscopic wear patterns on the…
