Machairodus kabir

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Machairodus kabir

Temporal range: Late Miocene

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Felidae

Subfamily: †Machairodontinae

Tribe: †Machairodontini

Genus: †Machairodus

Species: Machairodus kabir

Machairodus was a genus of large machairodontine saber-toothed cats that lived in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America during the late Miocene. The fossil species assigned to the genus Machairodus were divided by Turner into two grades of evolutionary development - M. aphanistus and the North American "Nimravides" catacopis representing the more primitive grade, and M. coloradensis and M. giganteus representing the more derived grade.[1] The characteristics of the more advanced grade include a relative elongation of the forearm and a shortening of the lumbar region of the spine to resemble that in living pantherine cats.[1] These trends would be taken further in Homotherium, which is thought to have evolved from Machairodus.



"Nimravides" catacopis stood about 1 m at the shoulder. Machairodus coloradensis was apparently significantly larger, about 1.2 m at the shoulder, according to skeletal and life reconstructions. If accurate, this would make M. coloradensis one of the largest felids.



The skull of Machairodus was noticeably narrow compared with the skulls of modern pantherine big cats, and the orbits were relatively small. The canines were long, thin and flattened from side to side but broad from front to back like the blade of a knife, as in Homotherium. The front and back edges of the canines were serrated when they first grew, but these serrations were worn down in the first few years of the animal's life.



Machairodus was about 2 metres long and probably hunted as an ambush predator. Its legs were too short to sustain a long chase, so it most likely was a good jumper, and used its canines to cut open the throat of its prey. Its teeth were rooted to its mouth and were not too delicate, unlike most saber-toothed cats of the time, which had extremely long canines which hung out of their mouths. The fangs of Machairodus, however, were able to more easily fit in its mouth comfortably while being long and effective for hunting.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machairodus

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Sabertooth Cats May Have Feasted on Early Humans

Two fearsome, newfound species of saber-toothed cats might once have stalked the earliest ancestors of humanity, researchers suggest.

However, the feline predators might have also proven to be a boon to these distant forerunners by leaving behind meat from which our ancient relatives could have scavenged, scientists added.

The new fossils were uncovered in the vast, flat, windy Djurab desert in northern Chad in central Africa. This is also where what may be the earliest member of the human lineage known so far was discovered — the 6.5-million-to-7.5-million-year-old human-like, chimp-like Sahelanthropus tchadensis, nicknamed "Toumai." Babies born close to the dry season in the Djurab are named Toumai, which in the local Goran language means "hope of life."

Two fearsome, newfound species of saber-toothed cats might once have stalked the earliest ancestors of humanity, researchers suggest.

However, the feline predators might have also proven to be a boon to these distant forerunners by leaving behind meat from which our ancient relatives could have scavenged, scientists added.

The new fossils were uncovered in the vast, flat, windy Djurab desert in northern Chad in central Africa. This is also where what may be the earliest member of the human lineage known so far was discovered — the 6.5-million-to-7.5-million-year-old human-like, chimp-like Sahelanthropus tchadensis, nicknamed "Toumai." Babies born close to the dry season in the Djurab are named Toumai, which in the local Goran language means "hope of life."

Toumai was discovered alongside the bones of a wide variety of animals — crocodiles, three-toed horses, fish, monkeys, hippos, aardvarks, turtles, rodents, giraffes, snakes, antelopes, pigs, mongooses, foxes, hyenas, otters and honey badgers. The area was once the shore of a lake, generally forested close to the waters with savannah-like areas too far away, said researcher Louis de Bonis, a paleontologist and paleoanthropologist at the University of Poitiers in France.

"The work conditions are hard. In the desert the temperature is changing along the day," de Bonis recalled. "The night and early in the morning it is cold and we wear winter coats; at noon, it is very hot and we wear a shirt or no shirt at all; and at 7 p.m. we take again the winter coats. Another problem with the wind and the sand occurs because the very fine sand can enter the clothes, ears, eyes and so on, which is very unpleasant." The desert, he added, also has snakes and scorpions that researchers must look out for.

Scientists had known one giant species of saber-toothed cat also lived there and was the largest predator of that area — Machairodus kabir, which at 770 to 1,080 pounds (350 to 490 kilograms) outweighed the largest living cat, the tiger, which can reach up to 660 pounds (300 kg).

Now researchers have unearthed two more saber-toothed cat species there — a roughly lion-sized member of the genus Lokotunjailurus, or scimitar-toothed cats, what may be a leopard-sized member of the genus Megantereon, or dirk-toothed cats. It's surprising to find three different kinds of saber-toothed cats in one area, de Bonis said, meaning that prey must have been numerous — a "lost paradise for carnivores," he told LiveScience.

Hominids such as Toumai could have been prey for these predators, de Bonis said. Still, another possibility is that antelopes and other large victims these saber-toothed cats brought down could have left behind large amounts of flesh to feed our distant relatives, de Bonis suggested.

These fossils also reveal interesting clues about the origin and behavior of saber-toothed cats. For instance, Lokotunjailurus was only known in East Africa, meaning that scimitar-toothed cats are now known found at least 1,550 miles (2,500 kilometers) from their original known locale. Also, Megantereon was thought to perhaps originate in North America and later dispersed to the Old World, but this ancient specimen suggests it originated in the Old World and later migrated to the New World.

www.livescience.com/10416-sabertooth-cats-feasted-early-humans.html