News and SocietyNature

The saber-toothed cat is an extinct predator

Most of us are used to the company of pets. Many, in order to brighten up their leisure time, produce small and furry animals from the cat family. But hardly anyone thinks about their similarity to extinct predators about 70 million years ago called saber-toothed cats.

Habitat

The disappeared species flourished in the territories of African lands, and also inhabited the Eurasian and North American continents during the early and middle Miocene. One of his early representatives - Pseudaelurus quadridentatus - is considered the founder of the evolutionary development of the species.

During the late Miocene, the saber-toothed cat divides the territories with carnivorous animals with barburofelis, which also have sharp front fangs. The last remains of the species and its representatives completely disappear from the Earth about 10 thousand years ago. More their population on the planet did not occur.

Evolution of saber-toothed cats

Since this representative of the animal world has disappeared from the face of the Earth for a very long time, most of the knowledge about it is the guesswork of scientists. But with the development of genetics it is possible to discover all the new interesting facts about extinct species. Studying the finds of archaeologists, you can create a certain image and at least a little to learn about these mysterious creatures.

Scientists suggest that the saber-toothed cat in habits and hunting had a lot of similarities with tigers, although it was never part of this family. Archaeological excavations could not prove that the animals had tiger color in the form of strips and fluffy fur. Also, there was no evidence confirming the similarity of the habits of ancient cats with modern species, therefore such statements can be regarded as nothing but assumptions.

Scientific research based on DNA research, conducted in 2005, confirms the selection of the subfamily "saber-toothed cats" from the ancestors of our pets, but does not connect it with the current species of felines.

A typical representative of this fossil group, scientists consider the famous saber-toothed tiger, which did not belong to the representatives of tiger cats in the glacial period. In the scientific world, his name is Smilodon, which translates from Latin as "destroyer."

Smilodon: description of species

Smilodon is the last representative of the subfamily "saber-toothed cats". The photo of the animal is amazing:

  • Huge, up to 20 centimeters fangs;
  • Height at the withers reaches a meter and 20 cm;
  • Body length is more than two meters;
  • Weight is almost 500 kg.

Such characteristics make these animals kings of vast territories. The tail alone was 30-35 centimeters long. The chunky physique made a kind of Smilodon atypical for the representatives of the feline. Only the cave and American lions were not inferior in size.

Do not doubt that the animal was a predator. Few could survive if a saber-toothed cat came out on the hunt. The photo of the individual and its full skeleton were made by scientists during excavations in France.

Existing together with other representatives of the animal world, cats competed for hunting and living places with:

  • Cheetah and panther in African lands;
  • Pumas, lions, jaguars in America.

Appearance

Predators differed conical and saber-toothed form of canine teeth. The structure of the jaws of Smilodon was such that it allowed the animal to open its mouth to 95 °, modern representatives of cat predators are able to do it no more than 65 °. Bared, bent teeth in sharpness resembled blades. In length they reached 20 cm. A powerful animal was able to hunt other animals, exceeding its size. This is how the saber-toothed cat looks, whose appearance frightened the inhabitants of the American continent two million years ago.

The jaws of the animal, intended to kill, put the beast in a series of dangerous predators. He did not have equal opponents.

A powerful chest and a weight a quarter of the weight of a large lion allowed the animals to compete for habitats, not only with each other, but also with a short-beared bear, no less strong and hardy beast. Huge size, a body consisting of strong muscles, teeth-knives allowed the predator to hunt the largest representatives of the fauna of that time - mammoths.

Scientists agree that it is impossible to compare an animal with a lion. Yes, the size of his body is commensurate with the size of the king of beasts, but here the structure of the addition, the proportions of shapes and the massiveness of the front paws against the background of the short ones do not allow such a comparison.

The muscular neck and the power of the bite allowed the animal to grab the prey, knock it down and tear it to pieces with claws. In the scientific world, there are still disputes about how the saber-toothed cat was painted. The predator, in all likelihood, did not have traditional tiger stripes. Most likely, his skin was decorated with dark spots.

Prehistoric finds

Scientists can not name the true reasons why such an adapted species of predators, which has all the data to survive, suddenly disappeared from the face of the Earth. Only the fossilized remains of their bones and characteristic teeth remind of an animal with the name saber-toothed cat. Finds on the lands of Los Angeles called "The Magic Mile" amaze the modern world with the artifacts of prehistoric America.

Lakes and reservoirs of the region are emitted by terrifying couples, and from the bowels of the earth, resinous fumes appear. It was in this place that archaeologists were lucky enough to find the remains of the bones of this animal and many other extinct predators. Puddles of resin, masked by the thicket of the forest, became dangerous for many representatives of the animal kingdom. Covered with foliage and fragments of branches, they formed huge traps. Herbivorous animals were tied up in them, thereby attracting predators to whom the same fate awaited.

Excavations of the La Brea districts brought up to one thousand bones of Smilodon, making their number unique. Asphalt and resin filling of the lakes became a good preservative material. The bones remained in fine form. Scientists were able to compose on them an idea of how the saber-toothed cats looked. Photos found fossils can be found in anthropological museums.

It should be noted that among the remains of the glacial period were found the bones of a short-beaked bear and a wolf. These are the direct ancestors of predators living on our planet today. But the saber-toothed cat did not leave any descendants after itself. At the moment, there are no direct heirs of Smilodon, Mahayrod and other saber-toothed cats.

Behavioral features

Based on the characteristics of the appearance, the saber-toothed cat, whose behavior was aggressive, could not move too fast. This is due to the short tail, which does not allow to hold the body in an upright position during a swift run. Most likely, the animal was hiding in ambush, waiting for the victim, and swiftly attacked her.

At the dawn of the Pleistocene period, herds of herbivores were enormous. Predators did not have much difficulty in obtaining food for themselves. Some herbivores had gigantic proportions that did not allow the cat to hunt alone. It is likely that in such a situation predators hunted in packs. During the excavations near the bones of a single herbivore, several ossified remains of saber-toothed tigers were found.

Care of the pack

The fact that the remains of one tiger has serious injuries that do not allow him to hunt alone testifies to the possibility of flocks in flocks where even a wounded animal could exist at the expense of hunting others.

Meat is the natural and preferred dish for any predator. Smilodonov can be classified as hyperplotoid. In the remains of their bones was found a protein of horses and buffalo.

Why do they need such teeth?

The question of the presence of teeth in a predator did not give scientists a break. After all, the lion does not need saber teeth for hunting. To this end, scientists conducted an experiment that recreated the power of the bite of a cat. It turned out that it is almost half the size of a lion. It turns out that in modern lions the force of the bite determines the size of the victim.

The teeth of the prehistoric individual possessed deadly force, if used forward and backward. Movements from side to side could easily damage them, simply breaking them. When the fang was stuck in the victim's body, it easily broke. With the loss of the tooth, the possibility of fruitful hunting was reduced by half, and this threatened the death of hunger.

The hypothesis that wounded animals could be eaten by their own flock members is not confirmed by scientists, but they are not rejected either. Perhaps this property of teeth and did not give the opportunity to survive to the representatives of the species to this day. But this is a question for scientists.

Scary, but popular

The appearance of a prehistoric predator, even created by the remains of the skeleton, causes a slight tremor. However, saber-toothed cats have become popular not only in the world of artifact findings. The image of a strong, insidious representative of the Ice Age was created by animators in the film of the same name. On children's T-shirts, stickers and backpacks appeared his images. Figures of the animal could be found in a toy store.

We want to associate all the unknown and uncontrollable with the features of conditional nobility. Of course, the saber-toothed tiger is an invention of artists, but for the creation of its image on the screen of the master of the genre used and took into account the features of the skeleton of the animal, actually lived on Earth millions of years ago. Even watching the cartoon character, you can note his predatory independence and independence.

Similar articles

 

 

 

 

Trending Now

 

 

 

 

Newest

Copyright © 2018 en.birmiss.com. Theme powered by WordPress.