What did the ancient saber-toothed tiger look like. BBC Russian Service - Information Services Ancient Tigers
They are teetering on the brink of extinction due to destruction of ecological systems and loss of habitat. In the following paragraphs of the article, you will learn about 10 extinct species of tigers and lions that have disappeared from the face of the Earth over the past few thousand years.
Despite its name, the American cheetah had more in common with cougars than with modern cheetahs. Its slender, flexible body, like that of a cheetah, is most likely the result of convergent evolution (the tendency of heterogeneous organisms to take on similar forms body and behavior, when developed under similar conditions). In the case of Miracinonyx, grassy plains North America and Africa had almost identical conditions, which played a role in the appearance of outwardly similar animals. American cheetahs became extinct at the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, possibly due to human encroachment on their territory.
As with the American cheetah (see previous paragraph), the relationship of the American lion to modern lions is a matter of much debate. According to some reports, this predator of the Pleistocene era is more closely related to tigers and jaguars. The American lion coexisted and competed with other superpredators of the time, such as the saber-toothed tiger, the giant short-faced bear, and the dire wolf.
If a american lion, was actually a subspecies of the lion, it was the largest of its kind. Some alpha males reached a mass of up to 500 kg.
As you might guess from the name of the animal, the Bali tiger was native to the Indonesian island of Bali, where the last individuals died out only about 50 years ago. For thousands of years, the Bali tiger has been at odds with the indigenous human settlements in Indonesia. However, the neighborhood with local tribes did not pose a serious threat to these tigers until the arrival of the first European traders and mercenaries who ruthlessly hunted Bali tigers for sport and sometimes to protect their animals and homesteads.
One of the most formidable subspecies of the lion was the Barbary lion, a valuable property of medieval British lords who wanted to intimidate their peasants. Several large individuals made their way from North Africa to the zoo located in the Tower of London, where many British aristocrats were previously imprisoned and executed. The male Barbary lions had particularly thick manes, and reached a mass of about 500 kg, which made them one of the largest lions ever to live on Earth.
There is a high likelihood of a resurgence of the Barbary lion subspecies in wild nature by selecting his offspring, scattered throughout the zoos of the world.
The Caspian lion has a precarious position in the classification big cats. Some naturalists argue that these lions should not be classified as a separate subspecies, considering the Kaispi lion to be simply a geographical offshoot of the still extant Transvaal lion. In fact, it is very difficult to distinguish an individual subspecies from an isolated population. In any case, the last specimens of these representatives of big cats became extinct at the end of the 19th century.
6. Turan tiger, or Transcaucasian tiger, or Caspian tiger
Of all the big cats that have become extinct in the past 100 years, the Turanian tiger had the largest geographic distribution, from Iran to the vast, windswept steppes of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The greatest damage to this subspecies was caused by Russian empire, which bordered on the habitats of the Caspian tiger. Tsarist officials encouraged the destruction of the Turanian tigers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
As with the Barbary lion, the Caspian tiger can be reintroduced into the wild through selective breeding of its offspring.
Probably, cave lion, along with the saber-toothed tiger, is one of the most famous extinct big cats. Oddly enough, cave lions did not live in caves. They got their name because many fossils of these lions have been found in the caves of Europe, visited by sick or dying individuals.
An interesting fact is that paleontologists attribute as many as three subspecies to the European lion: Panthera leo europaea, Panthera leo tartarica and Panthera leo fossilis. They are combined relatively big sizes bodies (some males weighed about 200 kg, females were slightly smaller) and susceptibility to encroachment and seizure of territories by representatives of the early European civilization: for example, European lions often participated in gladiator fights in the arenas of ancient Rome.
Javan tiger, like his close relative the Bali tiger (see point 3) was limited to one island in the Malay Archipelago. Despite relentless hunting, the main reason for the extinction of the Javan tiger has been habitat loss due to rapid growth human population in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The last Javan tiger was seen in the wild decades ago. Given the overpopulation of the island of Java, no one has high hopes for the restoration of this subspecies.
10. Smilodon (saber-toothed tiger)
From a scientific point of view, smilodon, it has nothing to do with modern tigers. However, given its overall popularity, the saber-toothed tiger deserves a mention in this list of extinct big cats. The saber-toothed tiger was one of the most dangerous predators Pleistocene era, capable of sinking its huge fangs into the neck of large mammals of those times.
Detachment - Predators
Family - feline
Genus/Species - Smilodon. Saber-toothed tiger Smilodon
Basic data:
DIMENSIONS
Height at withers: about 1 m.
Length: body 1.5 m, skull 0.3 m.
BREEDING
Puberty: no data.
Number of cubs: unknown.
Period of existence: Pleistocene epoch. The tiger became extinct about 11,000 years ago.
LIVING PLACE
North and South America.
Saber-toothed tiger Smilodon (see photo) belonged to a separate group of predators, which currently does not exist. Researchers suggest that he may have fed on carrion. This is one of the most famous representatives of his family.
PREHISTORIC FINDINGS
The most famous fossils were found in an oil lake at Rancha La Brea in California. The ancient lake was a watering place. Animals that came to the water often got stuck in the asphalt, becoming easy prey for predators. Oil flowed to the surface of the earth. Such a lake became a trap for animals that lived nearby.
FOOD
Smilodon was a species of Machairod that lived in the North and South America in the period from 1.6 million to 11 thousand years ago. On the basis of archaeological finds, it is included in a separate evolutionary branch of predatory cats. Now representatives of the cat hunt, attacking the prey from behind, and, sticking sharp claws into it, clenching their teeth, break the victim's spine.
At first, scientists thought that the saber-toothed tiger pounced on the victim and killed her, inflicting deep wounds and gnawing through the cervical vertebrae.
He had long sharp fangs, along the edges of which there were small notches - so he could attack animals that were larger than himself. It is now believed that the saber-toothed tiger ate carrion. The strong bend of the fangs indicates that the beast used them not for hunting and killing, but only for cutting prey. The saber-toothed tiger moved slowly. The fossilized remains of the skeleton show that its legs were short enough, and the body was massive, that is, it could not pursue prey for a long time. The length of its fangs suggests that the tiger could open its mouth at an angle of 120°; for comparison, modern ones are able to do this within 65 °.
INTERESTING INFORMATION. DO YOU KNOW WHAT...
- The name of the saber-toothed tiger is not true - it does not have joint ancestors with the tiger.
- There were several types of mahairods that lived in different periods. Smilodon lived in Europe, Africa and Asia in the Pleistocene era and until the end ice age.
- 12 thousand years ago, another saber-toothed tiger lived in America.
- Large fangs helped tigers butcher animal carcasses.
CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF THE SABER-TOOTH TIGER. DESCRIPTION
The saber-toothed tiger belonged to the Machairod family. He had a powerful body, about 1.5 m long, which was about 2/3 of the body length bengal tiger who lives in our time. His skull reached a length of about 30 cm. With the mouth closed, the tips of the long fangs were below the chin.
The saber-toothed tiger could open its mouth at an angle of 120°. A modern lion can only do this at a 65° angle. The saber-toothed tiger had long fangs along the edges that were serrated.
- Places where fossils were found
WHERE AND WHEN LIVED THE SABER-TOOTH TIGER SMILODON
The saber-toothed tiger lived on the continent that united modern North and South America. He lived in the Pleistocene era, in the interval from about 1 million 600 thousand years to 11 thousand years ago. The reason for its extinction is still unknown. Fossilized remains of other machairids have been found in Africa, Europe, and Asia.
Smilodon is an ancient saber-toothed tiger. Watch video (00:03:17)
Saber-toothed tiger. 1 part. Video (00:14:18)
When you hear this name, one thing comes to mind - ruthless and ferocious predator. The saber-toothed tiger is a huge cat adapted to hunting the biggest prey. This giant, possessing incredible strength and armed with 17-centimeter fangs, sharp as a knife, dominated the American continents for almost 2 million years. But suddenly the saber-toothed tigers mysteriously disappeared. Today, science and the latest computer technology allow us to look back 100 centuries and bring this awesome creature back to life.
Saber-toothed tiger. 2 part. Video (00:14:53)
Despite the frightening-looking fangs, the jaws of the saber-toothed tiger, as Australian scientists found, were much weaker than the mouth of a modern lion.
Saber-toothed tigers (Smilodon fatalis) appeared about 33 million years ago, and died out 9 thousand years ago. They lived in North America.
"It's one of the golden rules of paleontology: specialization is success in the short term, but big risk in the long term," says Colin McHenry of the University of Newcastle in Australia. specializations survive."
Living material resistance
Scientists built a model of the skull, jaws, teeth and muscles of a saber-toothed tiger and subjected it to finite element analysis.
This method is widely used by engineers and designers to assess the strength of materials for load-bearing structures such as aircraft wings.
For comparison, a similar model of a lion (Panthera leo) was built, which still lives in the African savannah.Among other things, the model had to answer the question of how exactly the saber-toothed tiger used its long fangs.
There are several different theories on this matter: some scientists believe that the tiger jumped on prey, exposing its fangs, others that their beast plunged into the body of a large victim and climbed on its back, and still others that it inflicted severe wounds with its fangs and killed the victim.
From the results of the simulation, it became clear that the saber-toothed tiger could not act in the same way as the lion.
The lion clamps the neck of the victim in its mouth and strangles it with a force of about 10 thousand newtons. It takes about 10 minutes to hold it with such force, and all this time the victim fights and resists.
The saber-toothed tiger could not do this: its jaw clenching force is three times less than that of a lion, and he was not able to clench it for so long."The saber-toothed tiger was like a bear: he is very strong, he has powerful shoulders, strong paws. He was not created to run; he pounced on other animals and pinned them to the ground," McHenry explains.
“That is, with his paws, he brought down large animals to the ground, pressed, and only when the victim stopped fighting back, did his teeth come into play. With one instant bite in the neck, he gnawed Airways and carotid arteries supplying blood to the brain. Death came almost instantly," he continues.
According to him, this last bite involved the muscles of the neck, helping to sink the fangs even deeper.
Why are saber-toothed tigers extinct?
This tactic was effective only when hunting large animals.
“The lion is not so picky, adapts better to new circumstances and can diversify its diet if necessary. And the saber-toothed tiger was doomed as soon as the number of his favorite large prey fell below a critical level,” says Dr Steve Rowe from the University of New South Wales in Sydney .
The extinction of the saber-toothed tiger took place during the Ice Age. Quite a few species of large animals died out in North America at that time, and at about the same time people settled on the continent who mastered such an effective hunting tool as a spear.
However, there is probably no direct link here, and according to most scientists, other factors, including climate change, played a significant role at the same time.
In addition, there is a theory that 13 thousand years ago a large asteroid or comet fell on North America, and some animals did not survive this.
Saber-toothed tigers are considered the most aggressive predators in the history of the planet. They were also called saber-toothed cats.
Their fangs were 14 centimeters long, they were deadly weapon. These powerful fangs the roots were so large that they reached the eye sockets. Such fangs were shaped like sabers, as they were flattened on the sides, and had notches in front and behind, hence the name.
These animals are prehistoric representatives of the cat family. Paleontologists believe that the habits and lifestyle of saber-toothed tigers were similar to modern cats, both large and small.
Most outwardly, saber-toothed tigers resembled Bengal tigers. But it is difficult to call them full-fledged tigers.
Most likely, saber-toothed tigers belong to a separate branch, which has a closely related relationship with cats, since the civet became the ancestor of both.
The largest cat predators cenozoic era were mahairods. They mainly ate rhinos, which were found in abundance in the Tertiary period. On the territory of Asia and Europe lived saber-toothed cats belonging to mahairods. And South and North America were inhabited saber-toothed smilodons.
They disappeared from the territory of North America not too long ago - about 30 thousand years ago.
In the fortieth year of the century before last, the Danish paleontologist and naturalist Peter Wilhelm Lundom first described saber-toothed tigers. In those years, during excavations in Brazil, he discovered the first remains of Smilodon.
Later, the fossilized bones of these animals were found in a lake in California, where they came to drink. Since the lake was oil, and the remains of oil all the time flowed to the surface, the animals often got stuck with their paws in this slurry and died.
Description and features of the saber-toothed tiger
The name saber-toothed in translation from Latin and ancient - Greek sounds like "knife" and "tooth" saber-toothed animals tigers are called smilodons. They belong to the saber-toothed cat family, the Machairod family.
Two million years ago, these animals inhabited the lands of North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Saber-toothed tigers lived in period from the beginning of the Pleistocene epoch to the very end of the Ice Age.
Saber-toothed cats, or smilodons the size of an adult tiger, 300-400 kilograms. They were a meter high at the withers, and one and a half meters in length of the whole body.
Scholars claim that smilodons were light brown in color, possibly with leopard spots on their backs. However, among these same scientists there is controversy about the possible existence of albinos, saber-toothed tigers white colors.
Their paws were short, the front paws being much larger than the hind ones. Perhaps nature created them in such a way that during a hunt a predator, having caught a victim, with the help of its front paws, could firmly press it to the ground, and then strangle it with its fangs.
On the Internet, there are many photos saber-toothed tigers, which show some differences from the cat family, they have a stronger physique and a short tail.
The length of his fangs, if you take into account the roots of the teeth themselves, was thirty centimeters. Its fangs are cone-shaped, pointed at the ends and slightly curved inward, and their inner side looks like a knife blade.
If the animal's mouth is closed, then the ends of its teeth look below the level of the chin. The uniqueness of this predator was that it opened its mouth unusually wide, twice as wide as the lion itself, in order to plunge its saber teeth into the body of the victim with furious force.
Saber-toothed tiger habitat
Populating the American continent, saber-toothed tigers preferred not overgrown with vegetation, open areas for living and hunting. There is little information about how these animals lived.
Some naturalists suggest that Smilodons led a solitary lifestyle. Others argue that if they lived in groups, then these were such flocks in which the same number of males and females, taking into account the young offspring, lived. Male and female individuals saber-toothed cats did not differ in size, their only difference is the short mane of males.
Food
About saber-toothed tigers it is reliably known that they ate exclusively animal food - mastodons, bison, horses, antelopes, deer, tours. Also, saber-toothed tigers hunted young, still fragile mammoths. Paleontologists admit that in search of food they did not disdain carrion.
Presumably, these predators went hunting in packs, females were better hunters than males and always went ahead. Having caught the prey, they killed it by crushing and dissecting the carotid artery with sharp fangs.
Which once again proves that they belong to the cat family. After all, as you know, cats choke the victim they caught. Unlike lions and other predators, which, having caught, tear the unfortunate animal.
But, saber-toothed tigers were not the only hunters for inhabited lands, and they had serious competitors. For example, in South America, they were competed with fororakos birds of prey and the size of an elephant, huge Megatheria sloths, which were also not averse to eating meat from time to time.
In the Northern parts of the American continent, there were much more rivals. This is a cave lion, and a large short-faced bear, and a terrible wolf, and many others.
The reason for the extinction of saber-toothed tigers
AT last years, on pages scientific journals From time to time, information appears that the inhabitants of a certain tribe saw animals that, according to the description, are similar to saber-toothed tigers. The natives even gave them a name - mountain lions. But there is no official confirmation that saber-toothed tigers alive.
The main reason for the disappearance of saber-toothed tigers was the changed Arctic vegetation. The chief researcher in the field of genetics, professor of the University of Copenhagen E. Willerslev and a group of scientists from sixteen countries studied a DNA cell obtained from an ancient animal preserved in an ice floe.
From which the following conclusions were drawn: the herbs that horses, antelopes and other herbivores ate at that time were rich in protein. With the onset of the Ice Age, all vegetation froze.
After the thaw, the meadows and steppes turned green again, but the nutritional value of the new herbs changed, it did not contain the required amount of protein at all. Why did all artiodactyls die out very quickly. And they were followed by a chain of saber-toothed tigers, who ate them, and simply remained without food, which is why they died of hunger.
Nowadays high technology, with the help of computer graphics, you can restore anything and return many centuries ago. Therefore, in historical museums dedicated to ancient, extinct animals, there are many graphic pictures with picture saber-toothed tigers which allow us to get to know these animals as much as possible.
Perhaps then, we will begin to appreciate, love and protect nature and saber-toothed tigers, and many other animals will not be featured on the pages Red books as extinct species.
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