Saber-toothed tiger man. Saber-toothed tiger

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The saber-toothed cat has sat down on a window… ©

Probably the most famous family felines from the recent past of our planet is the subfamily Machairodontinae, whose representatives are better known under the nickname “saber-toothed tigers”. Business card saber-toothed pussycats had two saber-shaped fangs on the upper jaw. That, in fact, is all the information about tigers with sabers in their mouths, which is known to most of you, readers. However, this is very, very little - we will find out more. And, first of all, saber-toothed cats were not at all as huge as computer animators depicted them in the film “10,000 BC”...

Saber-toothed cat

Representatives of the cat-sabertooth family first appeared about 5 million years ago in the territory of modern Africa, during the late Miocene era. In parallel with the representatives of especially toothy pussies, there were other families of predators that grew equally large fangs - for example, the subfamily of cats Barbourofelis. By the way, saber-toothed cats had a very distant relationship with modern representatives of felines and, despite their aggressive disposition, the cute fluffy, perhaps purring now on your lap, bears a slight resemblance to the powerful saber-toothed predator from the past of humanity.

Sabretooth in the movie "10,000 Years Ago"

Why weren't saber-toothed cats saber-toothed tigers? In the convinced opinion of paleontologists, modern tigers were not even close to them - firstly, saber-tooths led a different way of life than tigers, and secondly, they did not have a striped tiger color. The size of the largest individuals of the genus Smilodon - Smilodon populator - was as follows: length 240 cm (with a 30 cm tail); height at withers – 120 cm; weight – 350-400 kg. And the parameters of modern Amur tiger, the largest mustachioed-striped among modern species, are as follows: length about 350 cm (including a meter-long tail), height at the withers - 115 cm; weight – 250 kg. Paleontologists believe that saber-toothed cats hunted in packs, like a modern pride of lions, while tigers hunt alone. In addition, the tiger and Smilodon have a different design of the connection between the lower jaw and the skull - in saber-toothed bones of the lower jaw they had a special process to which muscles were attached, which allowed cats to deliver a particularly powerful blow with their fangs in the “top-down” direction. The attachment itself between the upper and lower jaws was less rigid, allowing the jaws to open 120 degrees.

Pride of saber-tooths after the hunt

Saber-toothed cats combined feline flexibility and bearish strength in their bodies. It was the similarity with modern bears that caused many years of scientific debate among leading paleontologists - who were these predators, cats or bears? They agreed that they were cats after all. Representatives of the saber-toothed family hunted something like this: having chosen a suitable victim, usually a baby mammoth or mastodon, several smilodon would drive it, one of the saber-tooths would knock the prey off its feet with a powerful throw, jump on its chest and plunge its giant fangs into its throat, while trying not to catch the bones of the spine victims. The menu of representatives of the family Machairodontinae included slow and large mammals various species, it is possible that human ancestors were also in it.

Comparative sizes of Smilodon, humans and modern tigers

Unlike large modern predators of the cat family, Smilodon were less flexible and maneuverable, because. their short tail could not serve as a balance steering wheel, helping lions and tigers quickly change direction while running and even jumping. The length of the fangs of saber-tooths was approximately 28, if you count it together with the roots and about 18-19 cm from the gum to the tip of each of these sabers. To estimate the length of one such tooth more clearly, look at the hand of an adult man - the length of one fang of a saber-toothed cat was approximately equal to the distance from the tip of the middle finger to the end of the palm. Impressive, isn't it?

Smilodon skull

After 2-3 million years of successful existence in the Northern and South America, Smilodon went completely extinct about 10,000 years ago, along with the extinction of large mammals like mammoths and mastodons. Perhaps the reason for the extinction lies in the lack of food and the inability of saber-tooths to catch more evasive creatures; perhaps our ancestors had a hand in this (at least, the ancestors of the indigenous population of the New World). In fierce competition, the Smilodon family was defeated, the representatives we are familiar with won cat family with conical fangs.

Life on Earth is constantly changing. The ancient giants, dinosaurs, and the huge, shaggy mammoths went extinct. The cat family has also undergone significant changes over the long centuries on our planet. Let's take a step back in time to see a cat that will give you goosebumps. Who is this? The legendary saber-tooth tiger.

Saber-toothed tiger, or, in Latin, mahairod, is a genus of extinct mammals of the cat family, distinctive feature which had impressive upper fangs that stuck out menacingly, even when the beast's mouth was closed. These long curved teeth in some species reached a length of 20 cm. The fangs resembled dagger-shaped blades, which is why scientists associate them with sabers. True, it is not clear why it was the tiger that became saber-toothed: the Mahairods had nothing in common with this striped beauty. Neither in color nor in their way of life did they resemble tigers. But a name that has taken root so successfully is difficult to eradicate, so we will also refer to it more than once.

Saber-toothed cats lived on Earth for quite a long time: the first representatives appeared in the early or middle Miocene, i.e. about 20 million years ago, and the last saber-toothed tigers became extinct in the late Pleistocene about 10 thousand years ago in America. Their habitat was quite wide: Africa, Eurasia, North America. In Africa, saber-toothed cats became extinct about 500 thousand years ago, while in Europe they disappeared 30 thousand years ago.

What did saber-toothed cats look like? Surely, when these animals are mentioned, many people think of a very popular character from the foreign cartoon “Ice Age” - the strong and brave saber-toothed tiger Diego. Well, the creators of the cartoon were not far from the truth. Saber-toothed cats did not have an elegant physique, like, say, modern jaguars or panthers; there was no trace of grace and feline charm here. But in harsh times, one had to look stern. A powerful body, rather short, massive legs, a stump-like tail and deadly fangs with cutting jagged edges - this is the portrait of this prehistoric predator. It is interesting that saber-toothed cats, due to their anatomical features, could open their lower jaw by 92 degrees, while modern cats can open their mouths a maximum of 65 degrees. Size saber-toothed cats hesitated: there were very major representatives, for example, smilodon, whose weight could reach 400 kg, and quite small (smaller than modern panthers).

What did these pussies eat? Scientists are still arguing about whether saber-toothed tigers could hunt large, thick-skinned animals such as mastodons and rhinoceroses. On the one hand, powerful fangs made it possible to cope with huge animals, but on the other hand, the saber-toothed cats themselves were not large enough to challenge the giants ancient world. But what the saber-tooths definitely didn’t refuse for lunch were antelopes, wild boars and hipparions (a genus of fossil three-toed horses).

One more question remains unresolved: why do pussies need such big teeth? One can imagine how, with one powerful leap, a saber-toothed tiger jumps on a rhinoceros and with its fangs torments the beast, roaring in fear and pain, leaving deep lacerated wounds on its body, from which blood flows in streams. There is another scenario: a saber-toothed cat could skin a captured rhinoceros with its fangs, using them like can openers and tearing off the thick skin of the animal. Well, the picture is worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster, but was it really like that? After all, cats’ teeth are not made of iron; sooner or later they could not withstand the load and break off. Therefore, there is another version of hunting. The saber-toothed tiger attacked the victim and, pressing the animal to the ground with its powerful front paws, gnawed its carotid artery and trachea. Perhaps such luxurious fangs also served males to attract females, because in the animal world there are never unnecessary or random details.

Ancient man I still managed to catch a saber-toothed tiger, although it cannot be said that such meetings always ended well. I think the reader will agree that the impressive fangs of these cats are much more pleasant to look at in a museum than in close proximity to yourself. All over the world, many remains of saber-toothed cats from different time layers have been found, and this suggests that the Machairods ruled the vast expanses of wild lands for a long time.

Saber-toothed cats are amazing creatures of nature, which, even having disappeared into the abyss of time, make us wonder, horrify and admire their unusual appearance.

Wikipedia reports

Most of us became acquainted with saber-toothed tigers on the pages of Alexander Volkov’s fairy tale “The Wizard of the Emerald City.” In fact, the name “saber-toothed tiger” is far from consistent with the structure and habits of these animals, and is used mainly due to mass circulation by the media.

Modern science believes that these animals lived in prides, hunted together and were generally closer to modern lions, but this does not indicate their relationship or even identity. The ancestors of modern felids and the ancestors of saber-toothed cats separated during evolution millions of years ago. In Eurasia, saber-toothed cats are thought to have gone extinct 30,000 years ago, and in America, the last saber-toothed cat died about 10,000 years ago. However, information is coming from Africa indicating that the saber-toothed tiger may still have survived in the wilds of this continent.
One of the people talking about this possibility is Christian Le Noel, a famous French hunter of large African animals. In the second half of the twentieth century, Noel made a living by organizing African hunts for moneybags. He spent many years in the Central African Republic near Lake Chad. Below is an abbreviated translation of Le Noel's article on saber-toothed tigers.
Saber-toothed tigers in the center of Africa?
In the Central African Republic, where I worked professionally as a hunt leader and organizer for twelve years, local African tribesmen talk a lot about a saber-toothed predator they call Koq-Nindji, which translates to “mountain tiger.”
Interestingly, among the legendary animals, Koq-Nindji occupies a privileged position. The fact is that stories about this animal are common among peoples of various races and tribes, many of whom have never met each other. All these peoples call the habitat of the “mountain tiger” the area limited by the mountainous Tibesti plateau, the left tributary of the Nile - Bahr el-Ghazal, the plateaus of the Sahara desert and further the mountains of Uganda and Kenya. Thus, the appearance of this animal was noted over several thousand square kilometers.

I learned most of the information about the “mountain tiger” from old hunters of the almost extinct Youlous tribe. These people are convinced that Koq-Nindji is still found in their region. They describe him as a cat larger than a lion. The skin has a reddish tint and is covered with stripes and spots. The soles of his paws are overgrown thick hair, this leads to the animal leaving virtually no traces. But most of all the hunters were amazed and frightened by the huge fangs protruding from the predator’s mouth.
The description of the animal practically corresponds to scientists’ understanding of the appearance of saber-tooths, whose fossil remains were discovered and dated back to 30 to 10 thousand years ago. Thus, the ancient saber-toothed tigers lived at the time when the first modern humans appeared.
Hunters of African tribes are practically illiterate people and have never seen a single textbook. I decided to take advantage of this and showed them several photographs of feline predators that exist in our time. In the middle of the stack of photographs I placed an image of a saber-toothed tiger. All the hunters chose him as the “mountain tiger” without hesitation.
As proof, they even showed me a cave into which the animal dragged the prey taken from the hunters. Then the tiger, without visible effort, carried away the carcass of a three hundred kilogram antelope. According to the hunters, this was thirty years before our conversation, which took place in 1970.
Among the peoples living in the north of the Central African Republic, stories about the “water lion” are also widespread. I'm guessing it's the same animal. Or these animals are close relatives.
There is written evidence from a European about a “water lion.” In 1910, a French column led by an officer and non-commissioned officers was sent to suppress the rebellion local residents. To cross the Bemingui River, pirogues were used that carried ten people. The military archives preserved an officer’s report about how a certain lion attacked a pirogue and carried away one of the shooters in its mouth.

The wife of one of the hunters told me that in the fifties, the “water lion” was caught in the fishing ranks. Such fish traps can reach a diameter of more than a meter in these places. So, the woman said that the animal was killed, and the skull went to the village elder. Despite the large sum of money I offered to the headman, he refused to show me the skull and declared that the woman had made a mistake. Apparently, this reaction is associated with the local custom of not sharing secrets with whites. “These are our last secrets. The whites know everything about everything and have taken everything from us. If they find out our last secrets, there will be nothing left for us,” local residents believe.
According to local residents, “water lions” live in caves located on the rocky banks of local rivers. Predators are predominantly nocturnal. “Their eyes sparkle at night like carbuncles, and their roar is like the roar of the wind before a storm,” say the locals.
My friend Marcel Halley, who hunted in Gabon in the twenties of the twentieth century, witnessed strange fact. One day, while hunting in a swamp, he was attracted by strange wheezing sounds from the thickets. He discovered an injured female hippopotamus. There were several deep and long wounds on the animal’s body that could not have been inflicted by another hippopotamus, especially since these animals never attack females. Only males fight among themselves. Among other wounds, the animal had two huge and deep ones: one on the neck and the second on the shoulder.

A similar incident happened to me in 1970. I was asked to destroy a hippopotamus that had become aggressive, it was attacking the pirogues on which people were sailing from Chad to Cameroon. Having killed the animal, I found wounds on its body that corresponded to the description of Marcel Halley.

The wounds on the neck and shoulder were round in shape and were so deep that the arm plunged into them up to the elbow. The wounds were not yet infected, which indicated their recent origin. These wounds could very well have been inflicted by a predator resembling a saber-toothed tiger, and could not have been inflicted by any known existing predator.
In these places, representatives of flora extinct throughout the rest of the Earth have been preserved, such as, for example, cycads from the genus Encephalartos. Why not assume that animals considered fossils also managed to survive?

The saber-toothed tiger is a giant among cats. For several million years it dominated the territory of America, but disappeared quite suddenly almost 10 thousand years ago. The true causes of the extinction have never been established. Today there are no animals that can safely be attributed to his descendants.

Only one thing is known with certainty: the animal has nothing to do with tigers.

Similar anatomical features of the skull (very long fangs, wide-opening mouth) are observed in clouded leopards. Despite this, no evidence of a close relationship between the predators could be found.

Family history

The animal belongs to the cat family, subfamily Machairodontinae or Saber-toothed cats, genus Smilodon. Translated into Russian, “Smilodon” means “dagger tooth.” The first individuals appeared during the Paleogene period about 2.5 million years ago. Tropical climate with slight fluctuations in temperature and lush vegetation favored a general flourishing of mammals. Predators of the Paleogene period multiplied rapidly and did not experience a shortage of food.

The Pleistocene, which replaced the Paleogene, was characterized by a harsher climate with alternating glaciations and periods of slight warming. The saber-toothed cats adapted well to their new habitat and felt great. The distribution range of animals covered the southern and North America.

At the end of the last ice age, the climate became drier and warmer. Where impenetrable forests once stretched, prairies appeared. Most of megafauna couldn't stand it climate change and died out, the remaining animals moved to open spaces, learned to run fast and evade pursuit.

Having lost their usual prey, predators were unable to switch to smaller animals. The peculiarities of the animal's constitution - short legs and a short tail, a bulky body - made it clumsy and inactive. He could not maneuver or pursue the victim for a long time.

The long fangs made it difficult to catch small animals; they broke during an unsuccessful attempt to grab the victim, piercing into the ground instead. It is quite possible that it was precisely because of famine that the period of saber-toothed tigers ended and there is no point in looking for other explanations.

Kinds

• The species Smilodon fatalis appeared on the American continents 1.6 million years ago. It had average size and weight, comparable to the weight of a modern tiger - 170 - 280 kg. Its subspecies include Smilodon californicus and Smilodon floridus.
• The species Smilodon gracilis lived in the western regions of America.
• The species Smilodon populator was distinguished by its largest size, had a stocky build, and exceeded in weight the most large tigers. Effectively killed the victim by cutting the carotid artery and trachea with sharp fangs.

Paleontological finds

In 1841, the first report of a saber-tooth tiger appeared in the fossil record. Fossil remains were found in the state of Minas Geras in eastern Brazil, where Danish paleontologist and naturalist Peter Wilhelm Lund conducted excavations. The scientist studied and described the relics in detail, systematized the facts and identified the beast as a separate genus.

Rancho La Brea, located in a bitumen valley near the city of Los Angeles, is famous for many finds of prehistoric animals, including the saber-toothed cat. During glacial times, there was a black lake in the valley, filled with a composition of thickened oil (liquid asphalt). A thin layer of water collected on its surface and attracted birds and animals with its shine.

The animals went to water and ended up in a death trap. All you had to do was step into the fetid mud and your feet themselves would stick to its surface. Under the weight of their bodies, the victims of optical illusion gradually sank into the asphalt, from which even the strongest individuals could not get out. The game bound by the lake seemed like easy prey for predators, but as they made their way to it, they themselves found themselves trapped.

In the middle of the last century, people began to extract asphalt from the lake and unexpectedly discovered there many well-preserved remains of animals buried alive. More than two thousand skulls of saber-toothed cats were raised outside. As it turned out later, only young individuals fell into the trap. Apparently the old animals, already taught by bitter experience, avoided this place.

Scientists from the University of California began studying the remains. Using a tomograph, the structure of the teeth and bone density were determined, and a number of genetic and biochemical studies were carried out. The skeleton of a saber-toothed cat was restored in great detail. Modern Computer techologies helped to recreate the image of the animal and even calculate the force of its bite.

Appearance

One can only guess what the animal saber-toothed tiger actually looks like, because the image created by scientists is very conventional. In the photo, the saber-toothed tiger does not look at all like living representatives of the cat family. Large fangs and bear proportions make it unique and one of a kind. The dimensions of a saber-toothed tiger are comparable to the linear parameters of a large lion.

• Body length 2.5 meters, height at withers 100 - 125 cm.
• The unusually short tail had a length of 20 - 30 cm. This anatomical feature deprived predators of the opportunity to run quickly. When turning at high speed, they could not maintain balance, maneuver and simply fell.
• The weight of the animal reached 160 - 240 kg. Large individuals from the species Smilodon populator exceeded the weight and had a body mass of 400 kg.
  The predator was distinguished by a powerful wrestling physique and awkward body proportions.
• In the photo, saber-toothed cats have well-developed muscles, especially on the neck, chest and paws. Their forelimbs are longer than their hind limbs, and their wide feet end in sharp retractable claws. A saber-toothed cat could easily grab an enemy with its front paws and throw him to the ground as best he could.
• The saber-toothed tiger's skull was 30 - 40 cm in length. The frontal and occipital parts are smoothed, the massive facial part is extended forward, the mastoid process is well developed.
• The jaws opened very wide, almost 120 degrees. Special attachment of muscles and tendons made it possible to press the predator's upper jaw to the lower jaw, and not vice versa, as in all modern cats.
• The upper fangs of the saber-toothed tiger protruded 17 - 18 cm from the outside, their roots penetrated into the bones of the skull almost to the very eye sockets. The total length of the fangs reached 27 - 28 cm. They were compressed from the sides, well sharpened at the very ends, pointed in front and behind, and jagged. The unusual structure allowed the fangs to damage the thick skin of animals and bite through flesh, but deprived them of strength. If they hit the bones of the victim, the fangs could easily break, so the success of the hunt always depended on the correctly chosen direction and accuracy of the blow.
• The predator's skin has not been preserved and its color can only be established hypothetically. The color most likely was a camouflage device, and therefore corresponded to the habitat. It is quite possible that in the Paleogene period the wool had a sandy-yellow hue, and in glacial period Only the white saber-toothed tiger was encountered.

Lifestyle and behavior

The ancient saber-toothed tiger is a representative of a completely different era and, in its behavior, bears little resemblance to modern cats. It is possible that predators lived social groups, which included three to four females, several males and young individuals. It is possible that the number of females and males was equal. By hunting together, animals could catch larger game, which means they could provide themselves with more food.

These assumptions are confirmed by paleontological finds - several skeletons of cats were often found near one skeleton of a herbivore. An animal, weakened by injuries and diseases, with such a lifestyle could always count on a portion of the prey. According to another theory, the tribesmen were not distinguished by nobility and ate a sick relative.

Hunting

For thousands of years, the predator specialized in hunting animals with thick skins. Having fangs capable of piercing their thick skin, he created real terror during the Ice Ages. The small tail did not allow the animal to develop high speed and hunts fast-running game, so its victims were clumsy, massive herbivorous mammals.

The ancient saber-toothed tiger used cunning techniques and got as close to its prey as possible. The victim was almost always taken by surprise, quickly attacked and used real wrestling techniques. Thanks to special structure paws and well-developed muscles of the anterior shoulder girdle, the animal could hold the animal motionless with its paws for a long time, launching its sharp claws into it and tearing the skin and flesh.

The size of the victim often exceeded the size of the saber-toothed tiger several times, but this did not save it from inevitable death. After the prey was knocked to the ground, the predator's fangs pierced deep into its throat.

The speed and accuracy of the attack, and the minimum noise during the attack increased the chances of the saber-toothed cat eating its trophy on its own. Otherwise, more people would run to the battlefield large predators and packs of wolves - and here we already had to fight not only for our prey, but also for our own lives.

The extinct saber-toothed cat ate exclusively animal food, was not known for moderation in food, and could eat 10–20 kg of meat at a time. Its diet included large ungulates and giant sloths. Favorite food: bison, mammoths, horses.

There is no reliable information about the reproduction and care of offspring. Since the predator belongs to the class of mammals, it can be assumed that its cubs fed on mother’s milk for the first month of life. They had to survive in difficult conditions and how many kittens survived to puberty is not known. The lifespan of the beast is also unknown.

1. A giant fossil saber-toothed cat could very well be genetically cloned in the near future. Scientists hope to isolate DNA suitable for the experiment from the remains preserved in permafrost. The potential egg donor should be an African lioness.
2. Many popular science films and cartoons have been made about saber-toothed tigers. The most famous of them are “Ice Age” (one of the main characters of the cartoon is the good-natured Smilodon Diego), “Walking with Monsters”, “Prehistoric Predators”. They are affected Interesting Facts from the life of the Smilodon, the events of bygone days are reconstructed.
3. Predators had no serious competitors in their habitat. Megatheria (giant sloths) posed a certain danger to them. It is possible that they not only ate vegetation, but were also not averse to including fresh meat in their diet. When meeting with a particularly large sloth, Smilodon could well become both an executioner and a victim.

Despite the terrifying-looking fangs, the jaws of the saber-toothed tiger, as Australian scientists found, were significantly weaker than the jaws of a modern lion.

Saber-toothed tigers (Smilodon fatalis) appeared about 33 million years ago, and went extinct 9 thousand years ago. They lived in North America.

“This is one of the golden rules of paleontology: narrow specialization is a success in the short term, but a big risk in the long term,” says Colin McHenry from the University of Newcastle in Australia. “As soon as an ecosystem changes, you are a prime candidate for extinction. And species without specializations survive."

Resistance of living material

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 evaluate 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 to this day lives in the African savanna.

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 its prey, baring its fangs, others - that their animal pierced the body of a large victim and climbed onto its back, and others - that it inflicted severe wounds with its fangs and killed the victim.

Based on the simulation results, it became clear that a saber-toothed tiger could not act in the same way as a lion.

The lion clamps the victim's neck 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 struggles and resists.

The saber-toothed tiger could not do this: his force of clenching his jaws is three times less than that of a lion, and he was not able to squeeze it for so long.

"The saber-toothed tiger was like a bear: it is very strong, it has powerful shoulders, strong paws. It was not created to run; it pounced on other animals and pinned them to the ground," McHenry explains.

“That is, with his paws he knocked large animals to the ground, pressed them, and only when the victim stopped fighting back did his teeth come into play. With one instant bite to the neck, he gnawed through the airways and carotid arteries supplying blood to the brain. Death occurred almost instantly,” - he continues.

This last bite involved neck muscles, he said, helping to drive the fangs even deeper.

Why did saber-tooth tigers become extinct?

This tactic was effective only when hunting large animals.

"The lion is not so picky, adapts better to new circumstances and, if necessary, can diversify its diet. But the saber-toothed tiger was doomed as soon as the number of his beloved large production has fallen below critical levels," says Dr Steve Rowe from the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

The extinction of the saber-toothed tiger occurred during the Ice Age. In North America at this time quite a few species of large animals became extinct, and around the same time people settled on the continent who had mastered such effective weapon hunting like a spear.

However, there is probably no direct connection 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.