First saber-toothed kitten found mummified in Arctic permafrost

As permafrost in the Arctic melts due to rising global temperatures, it has revealed true prehistoric fauna. After woolly rhinos, mammoths, wolves and cave lions, it was the turn of a saber-toothed cat (Homotherium latidens).

History: The carcass of a 35 thousand-year-old animal buried in frozen soil was discovered in 2020 Near the Badyarikha River in Yakutia, northeastern Russia. Staying at subzero temperatures significantly preserved the sample; it kept its head, skin, limbs, and even its whiskers and claws intact.

In a recent study published in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers describe how “tomographic analysis of the mummy’s skull revealed the mummy’s features.” Machairodontinae and kind homeotherium”. According to the authors, this is the first time in the history of paleontology that this has happened. The study of an extinct mammal that has no analogues in the modern fauna.

What does the saber-toothed “kitty” look like?

Analysis of the cat showed It is correct to call him a “kitten” because although he is currently compared to a lion cubThe mummified specimen was only three weeks old when it died. Being extremely young, he had not yet developed the breed’s “trademark” of exaggeratedly large upper canine teeth.

But since there is a lack of information about what a saber-toothed cat might have looked like, the discovery has proven invaluable in understanding this extinct species.

Comparing the mummified remains with a modern lion, the authors noticed that the saber-toothed cats had a larger mouth, smaller ears, longer forelimbs, darker hair, and a much thicker neck. Although they knew from previous skeletal analysis that adult Holotherium had short bodies and long limbs, the researchers confirmed these features in the found baby.

How important is the discovery of the saber-toothed cat?

Homotherium is a genus of saber-toothed felines that spread throughout the Earth during the Ice Age, living in the regions of Eurasia, Africa and the Americas, divided into different species adapted to the characteristics of each region.

Thus, the Russian kitten belongs to the breed. H. latidensIt was inhabited until the end of the last Ice Age, about 10 thousand years ago. It is very different from its “cousins”: H. serumLiving in North America; and African species, H. problematic And H. africanum.

“The discovery of the H. latidens mummy in Yakutia radically expands the understanding of the species’ distribution and confirms its presence in the Late Pleistocene of Asia,” according to the study. The first group of modern humans (homo sapiens) coexists with other hominids such as Neanderthals and Denisovans.

Did you like the content? Stay up to date with more discoveries like this at TecMundo and get the opportunity to understand how scientists reconstructed the 3D chromosomes of a 52,000-year-old mammoth. Until later!