A new player has been added to the roster of ancient predators, a saber-toothed tiger to be exact, since the remains of the San Diego Museum of Natural History Paleontology Collection revealed that the Eocene carnivore, the only specimen discovered to date, tore and tore meat to pieces about 42 million years ago.
The saber-toothed tiger is a fascinating discovery that represents one of the first carnivorous animals to walk planet Earth, as well as obviously filling a gap in our understanding of the emergence of carnivores in mammals.
“Today, a meat-only diet, also known as” hypercarnivorous “, is not uncommon … but 42 million years ago, mammals – in this case our saber-toothed tiger – were just trying to figure out how to survive. with meat only “
said the postdoctoral researcher at Natthe Dr. Ashley Poustin a declarationwho later added:
“A huge advance has been the development of specific teeth for cutting meat, which we have seen in this specimen just described”.
Described on the PeerJ magazinethe new saber-toothed tiger was called Diegoaelurus vanvalkenburghae in honor of the San Diego County where it was found (not the Ice Age character) and the scientist Blaire Van Valkenburghwhose research on the evolution of carnivores was central to the new journal.
After 42 million years, how did the saber-toothed tiger come to us?
As mentioned above, his remains, which are estimated to belong to the Eocene (da 55.8 to 33.9 million years ago), consist of a lower jaw and teeth well preservedsuggesting his meat-rich diet.
As one of the earliest predators, the saber-toothed tiger D. vanvalkenburghae, joins the enigmatic Machaeroidines, a little-known group of extinct creatures, making this new member an exciting addition.
“We know so little about Machaeroidines, so each new discovery greatly expands our horizons”
the co-author Dr. Shawn Zack of the University of Arizona School of Medicine, who later added:
“This relatively complete and well-preserved fossil of Diegoaelurus is particularly useful because the teeth allow us to infer diet and begin to understand how macheroidins relate to each other.”
Investigation of the remains revealed that D. vanvalkenburghae was likely the size of a bobcat but with teeth unlike any predator around at the time.
“Nothing like this had existed before in mammals,” Poust explained. “Some mammalian ancestors had long fangs, but Diegoaelurus and his few relatives represent the first cat-like approach to an entirely meat diet, with saber teeth in front and sharp scissor teeth called carnassials in the back.”
“It’s a powerful combination that different groups of animals have evolved independently in the millions of years since then.”
Its deadly dentition represents one of evolution’s earliest attempts to support a hypercarnivorous diet, as well as being an example of convergent evolution as saber-toothed animals later emerged among other cat-like creatures.
“Have these groups ever met or even competed for space and prey?” poses Poust. “We don’t know yet, but San Diego is proving to be a surprisingly important place for the evolution of carnivores.”
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