Who will win, the lion or the saber-toothed tiger? Who is more dangerous, who is faster and who is stronger - a lion or a tiger? Tribes of saber-toothed cats
Saber-toothed tigers are formidable and dangerous predators of the cat family, completely extinct in ancient times. Distinctive feature These animals had upper fangs of impressive size, shaped like sabers. What do modern scientists know about saber-toothed cats? Were these animals tigers? What did they look like, how did they live, and why did they disappear? Let's move back through the centuries - to those times when huge ferocious cats, going hunting, confidently walked across the planet with the gait of true animal kings...
Cat or tiger?
First of all, it should be noted that the term “saber-toothed tigers,” which seems so familiar, is actually incorrect.
Biological science knows the subfamily saber-toothed cats(Machairodontinae). However, with tigers, these ancient animals have extremely little common features. The first and second have significantly different proportions and body structure, and the lower jaws are connected to the skull differently. In addition, the striped “tiger” coloring is not typical for any of the saber-toothed cats. Their lifestyle is also different from that of a tiger: paleontologists suggest that these animals were not loners, living and hunting in prides, like lions.
However, since the term “saber-toothed tigers” is used almost everywhere, and even in scientific literature, further we will also use this beautiful allegory.
Tribes of saber-toothed cats
Until 2000, the subfamily of saber-toothed cats, or Machairodontinae, united three large tribes.
Representatives of the first tribe, Machairodontini (sometimes also called Homoterini), are distinguished by exceptionally large upper canines, wide and jagged with inside. When hunting, predators relied more on striking with these devastating “weapons” than on biting. The smallest cats of the Mahairod tribe were comparable to a small modern leopard, the largest were larger than a very large tiger.
Saber-toothed tigers of the second tribe, Smilodontini, are characterized by longer upper canines, but they were significantly narrower and not as serrated as those of the Machairods. Their top-down attack with fangs was the most deadly and perfect among all saber-toothed cats. As a rule, Smilodon were the size of an Amur tiger or lion, however American look This predator is famous for being the largest saber-toothed cat in history.
The third tribe, Metailurini, is the most ancient. That is why the teeth of these animals represent a kind of “transitional stage” between the fangs of ordinary and saber-toothed cats. It is believed that they separated from other machairodonts quite early, and their evolution occurred somewhat differently. Due to the rather weak expression of “saber-toothed” characteristics, representatives of this tribe began to be classified directly as felines, considered “small cats” or “pseudo-saber-toothed”. Since 2000, this tribe is no longer included in the subfamily of interest to us.
Saber-toothed tiger period
Saber-toothed cats inhabited the Earth for quite a long time - more than twenty million years, appearing for the first time in the early Miocene and finally disappearing in the late Pleistocene period. Over all this time, they have given rise to many genera and species, differing significantly in appearance and size. However, hypertrophied upper fangs (in some species they could reach more than twenty centimeters in length) and the ability to open their mouths very wide (sometimes even one hundred and twenty degrees!) have traditionally been their common features.
Where did saber-toothed cats live?
These animals were characterized by an ambush attack. By pinning the victim to the ground with powerful front paws or by clawing at its throat, Saber-toothed tiger instantly cut her carotid artery and trachea. Precision bite was the main weapon of this predator - after all, fangs stuck in the bones of the prey could break. Such a mistake would be fatal for the unlucky predator, depriving him of the ability to hunt and thereby dooming him to death.
Why did saber-toothed cats become extinct?
During the Pleistocene, or " ice age", which covered the period from two million to twenty-five to ten thousand years ago, many gradually disappeared large mammals- cave bears, woolly rhinoceroses, giant sloths, mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. Why did this happen?
During glacial cooling Many plants rich in proteins, which served as the usual food for giant herbivores, became extinct. At the end of the Pleistocene period, the planet's climate became warmer and much drier. Forests were gradually replaced by open grass prairies, but the new vegetation, adapted to the changed conditions, did not have the nutritional value of the previous one. Herbivorous sloths and mammoths gradually died out, not finding enough food. Accordingly, there were fewer animals that predators could hunt. The saber-toothed tiger, an ambush hunter of big game, found himself hostage to the current situation. The structural features of its jaw apparatus did not allow it to hunt small animals; its massive physique and short tail did not allow it to catch up with fleet-footed prey in the open area, which was becoming more and more numerous. Changed conditions meant that the ancient tigers with saber fangs did not have a chance to survive. Slowly but inexorably, all species of these animals existing in nature disappeared from the face of the Earth.
Without exception, all saber-toothed cats are finally extinct animals that did not leave direct descendants.
Mahayrods
Of all known to science Among the representatives of saber-toothed cats, it was Mahairod who most closely resembled a tiger. In nature, there were several types of mahairods, which had significant differences in appearance, but they were united by the jagged edges of long upper fangs, shaped like “mahairs” - curved swords.
These ancient animals appeared in Eurasia about fifteen million years ago, and two million years have passed since their extinction. The weight of the largest representatives of this tribe reached half a ton, and in size they were quite comparable to modern horses. Archaeologists are convinced that the Machairod was the largest wild cat of its time. Hunting large herbivores - rhinoceroses and elephants, these animals quite successfully competed with others large predators of their time, dire wolves and cave bears. Machairods became the “progenitors” of a more advanced type of saber-toothed cat - Homotherium.
Homotherium
It is believed that these saber-toothed cats appeared about five million years ago at the boundary of the Miocene and Pleistocene. They were distinguished by a more slender physique, vaguely reminiscent of a modern lion. However, their hind legs were somewhat shorter than their front legs, which gave these predators some resemblance to a hyena. The upper fangs of Homotherium were shorter and wider than those of Smilodon - representatives of another tribe of saber-toothed cats that inhabited the Earth in parallel with them. Along with this, the presence large quantity The notches on the fangs allowed scientists to conclude that these animals were capable of delivering not only slashing, but also cutting blows.
Compared to other saber-toothed cats, Homotherium had very high endurance and was adapted to long (although not fast) running and walking over long distances. There are suggestions that these now extinct animals led a solitary lifestyle. However, most researchers are still inclined to believe that homotherium hunted in groups like other saber-toothed cats, since it was easier to kill the stronger and stronger ones. big catch.
Smilodon
Compared to other saber-toothed cats that the ancient knew animal world Earth, Smilodon had a more powerful physique. The largest representative of saber-toothed cats - Smilodon populator, which lived on the American continent - grew up to one hundred and twenty-five centimeters high at the withers, and its length from nose to tip of tail could be two and a half meters. The fangs of this beast (along with the roots) reached twenty-nine centimeters in length!
Smilodon lived and hunted in prides, including one or two dominant males, several females and young animals. The coloration of these animals could well be spotted, like a leopard. It is also possible that the males had a short mane.
Information about Smilodon is contained in many scientific reference books and fiction, he appears as a character in films ("Portal Jurassic period", "Prehistoric Park") and cartoons ("Ice Age"). Perhaps this is the most famous animal of all, which is commonly called saber-toothed tigers.
The clouded leopard is a modern descendant of the saber-toothed tiger
Today it is believed that the clouded leopard is the indirect, but closest relative of Smilodon. It belongs to the subfamily Pantherinae (panther cats), within which it is classified into the genus Neofelis.
Its body is quite massive and compact at the same time - these features were also inherent in the saber-toothed cats of antiquity. Among representatives of modern felines, this animal has the longest fangs (both upper and lower) relative to its own size. In addition, the jaws of this predator can open 85 degrees, which is much more than that of any other modern cat.
Although not a direct descendant of saber-toothed cats, the clouded leopard serves as clear evidence that the method of hunting using deadly “saber fangs” can well be used by a predator in modern times.
If you ask even a child about who the king of beasts is, the answer will be unequivocal: “Of course, a lion.” Still, there is another opinion. Many experts give the palm to the tiger, and they are confident that it will be the one who will emerge victorious from the battle of these two titans. But in order to determine who is stronger, who is faster and who is more dangerous - a tiger or a lion, it is necessary to provide the basic characteristics of these two animals.
a lion
Now lions are found only in Asia and Africa, although previously their habitat was much wider - from Europe to the Middle East. But over time, people pushed them aside, and now lions are found in the wild only in the south, east and west of Africa, as well as in India. African and Asiatic lions differ in their appearance and basic characteristics from each other: it affects different environment a habitat.
These representatives of the cat family live in small groups - prides, the number of which ranges from four to thirty or more individuals. Usually a pride includes two or three males, one of which is dominant, and several females with offspring. Large dimensions do not prevent these animals from overcoming even a three-meter height. In general, jumping is their strong point. When hunting, a lion freezes in the grass, waiting for its prey, and then knocks it to the ground in one calculated leap. Although, by the way, the main breadwinner is the female, and the male is more responsible for protecting the pride territory from unwanted intrusions. It is quite easy to distinguish a lion from a lioness: the male has a lush mane, while the lioness does not.
Tiger
There are different subspecies: Amur, Bengal, Indochinese, Malay, Sumatran, Chinese. All names correspond to the habitat.
Tigers are solitary hunters. They do not live in a flock, but separately. The male occupies a territory of 700-800 square kilometers, and the female and her offspring need only 500 square kilometers.
Who is bigger - a tiger or a lion?
The weight of an adult lion ranges from 180 to 240 kg, and the body length reaches three meters. Females are slightly smaller: the average weight is 140 kg, and their body length is half a meter shorter.
The length of the body of an average adult tiger is not inferior to the length of the body of a lion; on the contrary, it is slightly longer. As for body weight, here too there is a difference of 50 kg in favor of the tiger. Representatives of the Amur subspecies are even heavier: their weight reaches 350 kg.
So, who is bigger - a lion or a tiger? It turns out that the striped representative of the cat family is slightly superior to its maned relative in size.
Comparison of the strength of two predators
Who is stronger - a lion or a tiger? The answer is far from clear-cut. It depends on what is considered an indicator of strength: either the characteristics of the type, or the number of rounds won. The tiger's claws are sharper and longer (10 cm) than those of the lion (7 cm). Since a tiger is on average heavier than a lion, this means that it has more muscles. The force of compression of their jaws is approximately the same, and they kill the victim in a similar way: they dig their fangs into the neck. But the success of the fight depends not only on who is bigger - the tiger or the lion, but also on the tactics of the battle. For example, a lion's blow is more devastating. With one swing he kills a hyena or a zebra. If you take external characteristics, then the tiger is stronger than the lion. But if we take the specific results of the skirmishes of these two animals as a basis, then the king of beasts does not give up his positions and proves that he deservedly received such a title.
Who is faster - a lion or a tiger?
Here the advantage is on the side of the tabby cat. An adult tiger reaches speeds of up to 80 km/h, while a lion reaches only 60 km/h. True, both of them are unable to run at such speed over long distances.
Who is more dangerous?
In terms of its behavior in a fight, a tiger seems more aggressive than a lion. He immediately rushes into battle, while the lion can enter the battle as if reluctantly. Sometimes it seems like he's playing first rather than trying to hit. It's all about their social nature. The tiger is used to fighting alone; he knows that he has no one to expect help from. And a lion, who mainly hunts with members of a pride, may habitually think that he has a support group behind him, ready to join in at any moment, and therefore behaves less intimidatingly than his opponent.
Who is more resilient?
Definitely a lion. It seems that he doesn’t even care about deep wounds and pain. He will fight to the end. The tiger, as a rule, runs away after several injuries inflicted on it. In a fight, the tiger makes more active, but unnecessary movements, and as a result, its strength is quickly depleted.
Who wins the conflict?
The answer to the question “who is stronger - a lion or a tiger” requires facts and documentary evidence, and not just unfounded reasoning. There are many real videos, where the fight between two titans is captured. In a nutshell, the conclusion is this: the tiger is most likely the initiator of the conflict, but he retreats after the lion shows who is the master of the situation. The latter is more confident. And a lion has more fighting experience, because adult lions constantly fight for territory, and a tiger can only take part in a fight a couple of times in its entire life.
The fight itself at first looks as if the tiger is still inflicting more blows on the enemy, and this creates the illusion of his victory. But mostly these blows do not reach their target, because the lion manages to dodge in time. The tiger makes a lot of unnecessary movements, and this makes him tired faster. In battle, he stands on his two hind legs and tries to fight with his front legs, making it harder to maintain balance. In addition, his strategy is not well thought out: he tries to hit the neck, but the lion has a powerful mane that absorbs these blows, and they generally do not do much harm to the lion. The lion's blows are more calculated, and if he does hit, then in such a way that the tiger will surely fall. This predator strikes with one paw, standing on the other three, and tries to hit the unprotected neck or tear out a piece of skin from the sides or back, and it succeeds quite often. If the blow is strong, but not fatal, then the tiger shamefully runs away, whining like a little dog.
To be fair, it should be noted that there is also another side to the coin. Perhaps the tiger runs away not so much because he is tired or afraid, but because more than a lion he is afraid of wounds and does not see the need to fight to the death in everyday showdowns. After all, if a wounded lion needs to rest, then other members of the pride will take care of him, but the tiger can only rely on himself, and severe severe wounds doom him to hunger. Therefore, he may choose to retreat.
Fights in Ancient Rome
It is interesting that the expression “king of beasts” was assigned to the lion during Ancient Rome. The attitude towards him as the owner of enormous power is evidenced by many architectural monuments, where this majestic predator is depicted as a winner. The question of who is stronger, a lion or a tiger, also interested the ancient Romans. To please the spectators thirsty for bloody spectacles, various animals were pitted against each other. Very often it was the lions and tigers who had to measure their strength.
Who mostly won such fights? Almost all historical reports speak in favor of lions. For example, the preferential victories of these predators over tigers are recorded in Plato’s “Dialogues” and in the “Memoirs of Cleopatra.” Moreover, there is evidence that the lion even tore apart an elephant thanks to his grip and technique.
Another additional answer to the question of who is stronger - a lion or a tiger - are the architectural monuments of Ancient Rome. It is the lion that is depicted in the sculptures as a symbol of courage and strength. Consequently, eyewitnesses of animal fights also considered him this way. There are very few monuments where the tiger is immortalized.
Skirmishes in zoos and circuses
In nature, separate fights would never take place, because the habitats of some subspecies do not overlap. For example, Amur tiger or a lion living in Africa would never have the opportunity to measure their strength. It’s different in zoos, where they live in neighboring cages.
You can't argue with the numbers. In most fatal cases, the victims were tigers. When they and the lions are together in a confined space, for example in an enclosure or cage, the tigers become very panicky because they have nowhere to escape. They behave rather irrationally, and this is the main reason for their defeats. Leo, on the contrary, pushes his line to the end, and the final outcome is the death of the enemy.
One animal trainer described the case of a lion named Sultan the First. During one performance in the circus, he challenged all the tigers. They approached him in the arena, and he defeated them all in turn. Moreover, these were only big young and strong animals. Sultan the First, like an experienced boxer, delivered false blows, bluffed, causing the tigers to miss, and then delivered a crushing blow. The defeated tigers crawled around the arena, and the winner triumphantly finished them off. No one could take them away; all the tigers died. It was a cruel sight.
Having considered these facts, each reader can decide for himself who is better - a lion or a tiger - to prove himself in a fight. Although it would be much better if they never fought among themselves or attacked a person.
Before humans became hunters and made their way to the top of the food chain, cats were the most successful and powerful predators. Even today, felines such as tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards are still admired and feared, but even they cannot outshine their extinct ancestors.
Giant cheetah
The giant cheetah belongs to the same genus as modern cheetahs. And it looked similar, but was much larger. Weighing up to 150 kg, the cheetah was as large as the African lion and could hunt large prey. Some suggest that the giant cheetah could reach speeds of up to 115 km/h! This animal lived in Europe and Asia during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. Extinct during the last ice age.
Xenosmilus
Xenosmilus is related to Smilodon (the famous saber-toothed tiger), but instead of long, blade-like fangs, it had shorter teeth. They looked more like the teeth of a shark and a carnivorous dinosaur than the teeth of a modern cat. This creature hunted from ambush and killed its prey, tearing out pieces of meat from it. Xenosmilus was quite large by today's standards - weighing up to 230 kg, and it was similar in size to an adult lion or tiger. The remains of this cat were found in Florida.
Giant Jaguar
Today, jaguars are quite small animals compared to lions and tigers, typically weighing 60-100 kg. In prehistoric times, North and South America were home to giant jaguars. These cats had much longer limbs and tails than the modern jaguar. Scientists believe that jaguars lived on open plains, but due to competition with lions and other big cats, they were forced to find more wooded areas. Giant prehistoric jaguars were the size of a lion or tiger and very strong.
European Jaguar
Unlike the giant jaguar mentioned, the European jaguar was not the same species as modern jaguars. Nobody knows what this prehistoric cat looked like. Some scientists believe that it most likely resembled modern spotted felines, or maybe a cross between a lion and a jaguar. It is obvious that this creature was dangerous predator, weighed up to 210 kg and was at the top of the food chain 1.5 million years ago. His remains were found in Germany, France, England, Spain and the Netherlands.
Cave lion
The cave lion is a subspecies of lion large sizes and weighing up to 300 kg. This is one of the most dangerous and powerful predators that lived during the last ice age in Europe. There is evidence that he was feared and possibly worshiped by prehistoric people. Many drawings and several figurines depicting a cave lion were found. It is interesting that this lion was depicted without a mane.
Homotherium
Homotherium was one of the most dangerous felines in prehistoric times, living in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. It adapted well to environmental conditions, including the subarctic tundra, and lived for 5 million years before its extinction 10,000 years ago. Externally, Homotherium differed from other large cats. The forelimbs were slightly longer than the hind limbs, resembling a hyena. The structure of the hind limbs of Homotherium indicates that it jumped worse than modern cats. Maybe homotherium wasn’t the most big predator, but some finds show that the mass of this cat reached 400 kg, which is more than the mass of a modern Siberian tiger.
Mahairod
Unlike Smilodon, which was a classic saber-toothed tiger, its short tail and body proportions were different from a real tiger. The Mahairods looked like giant tigers with saber teeth, as well as similar proportions and long tail. Whether the animal had stripes is unknown. Found in Chad, Africa, the remains of a mahairod suggest that this creature was one of the most... big cats of all times. It weighed up to 500 kg and was the size of a horse. He hunted elephants, rhinoceroses and other herbivores. Machairod most likely looked like the giant tiger from the movie 10,000 BC.
American lion
After Smilodon, it is most likely the most famous prehistoric cat. It lived in the Americas during the Pleistocene and went extinct 11,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. Most scientists argue that the American lion was a giant relative of the modern lion. His weight was 470 kg. There is debate about his hunting technique, but he most likely hunted alone.
Pleistocene tiger
This is the most mysterious animal on the list, known from fragmentary remains. It is not a separate species, but rather an early version of the modern tiger. Tigers evolved in Asia 2 million years ago to hunt the variety of huge herbivores that lived on the continent at the time. Tigers are the largest representatives of the cat family. However, during the Pleistocene period there was more food, and therefore tigers were bigger too. Some remains have been found in Russia, China and the island of Java.
Smilodon
The most famous cat that had teeth that looked like a dirk or a knife with a long straight blade is Smilodon. He and his close relatives were distinguished by long, serrated fangs and short-legged, muscular bodies reminiscent of a bear. Their strong build did not allow them to run quickly over long distances, so they most likely attacked from ambush. Well, scimitar-toothed cats relied on speed, having long limbs like cheetahs, as well as shorter and more roughly jagged fangs. Smilodon went extinct 10,000 years ago, which means they lived at the same time as humans and may have hunted them.
Before humans climbed to the top of the food chain, wild cats were the most powerful and successful hunters. Even today, these huge predators evoke fear and at the same time admiration in a person who is not their competitor in the hunt. And yet, prehistoric cats were much better in all respects, especially when it comes to hunting. Today's article presents the 10 largest prehistoric felines.
The prehistoric cheetah belongs to the same genus as today's cheetahs. His appearance was very similar to the appearance of a modern cheetah, but its ancestor was many times larger. The giant cheetah was more reminiscent of a modern lion in size, because its weight sometimes reached 150 kilograms, so the cheetah easily hunted larger animals. According to some data, ancient cheetahs were capable of accelerating at speeds of up to 115 kilometers per hour. The wild cat lived in the territory of modern Europe and Asia, but could not survive the Ice Age.
This dangerous animal does not exist today, but there was a time when xenosmilus, along with other predatory cats, led food chain planets. Outwardly, it was very similar to a saber-toothed tiger, but unlike it, xenosmilus had much shorter teeth, which were similar to the teeth of a shark or predatory dinosaur. The formidable predator hunted from ambush, after which it instantly killed the prey, tearing off pieces of meat from it. Xenosmilus was very large, sometimes its weight reached 230 kilograms. Little is known about the habitat of the beast. The only place where his remains were found was Florida.
Currently, jaguars are not particularly large in size; as a rule, their weight is only 55-100 kilograms. As it turned out, they were not always like this. In the distant past, the modern territory of Southern and North America filled with giant jaguars. Unlike the modern jaguar, they had longer tails and limbs, and their size was several times larger. According to scientists, the animals lived on open plains together with lions and some other wild cats, and as a result of constant competition they were forced to change their place of residence to more wooded areas. The size of a giant jaguar was equal to a modern tiger.
If giant jaguars belonged to the same genus as modern ones, then European jaguars belonged to a completely different one. Unfortunately, today it is still not known what the European jaguar looked like, but some information about it is still known. For example, scientists claim that the weight of this cat was more than 200 kilograms, and its habitat was countries such as Germany, England, the Netherlands, France and Spain.
This lion is considered a subspecies of lion. Cave lions were incredibly large in size, and their weight reached 300 kilograms. Terrible predators lived in Europe after the Ice Age, where they were considered one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet. Some sources say that these animals were sacred animals, so they were worshiped by many peoples, and perhaps they were simply feared. Scientists have repeatedly found various figurines and drawings depicting a cave lion. It is known that cave lions had no mane.
One of the most terrible and dangerous representatives wild cats prehistoric times - this is homotherium. The predator lived in the countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, South and North America. The animal adapted so well to the tundra climate that it could live for more than 5 million years. The appearance of Homotherium was noticeably different from the appearance of all wild cats. The forelimbs of this giant were much longer than the hind limbs, which made him look like a hyena. This structure suggests that Homotherium was not a very good jumper, especially unlike modern cats. Although Homotherium cannot be called the most, its weight reached a record 400 kilograms. This suggests that the animal was larger than even a modern tiger.
The appearance of a mahairod is similar to that of a tiger, but it is much larger, with a longer tail and huge knife fangs. Whether he had the stripes characteristic of a tiger is still not known. The remains of the mahairod were found in Africa, which indicates its place of residence; in addition, archaeologists are convinced that this wild cat was one of the largest of those times. The weight of the mahairod reached half a ton, and in size it resembled a modern horse. The predator's diet consisted of rhinoceroses, elephants and other large herbivores. According to most scholars, the appearance of the mahairod is most accurately depicted in the film 10,000 BC.
Of all the prehistoric wild cats known to mankind, the American lion ranks second in popularity after Smilodon. Lions lived on the territory of modern Northern and South America, and became extinct about 11 thousand years ago at the very end of the Ice Age. Many scientists are convinced that this giant predator was related to today's lion. The weight of an American lion could reach 500 kilograms. About him hunting is underway There is a lot of debate, but most likely the animal hunted alone.
The most mysterious animal on the entire list was in second place among the largest cats. This tiger is not a separate species It is most likely a distant relative of the modern tiger. These giants lived in Asia, where they hunted very large herbivores. Everyone knows that today tigers are the most major representatives the cat family, but such large tigers, as in prehistoric times, today it is not even close. The Pleistocene tiger was unusually large in size, and according to the remains found, it lived even in Russia.
The most famous representative of the cat family of prehistoric times. Smilodon had huge teeth like sharp knives and a muscular body with short legs. His body slightly resembled that of a modern bear, although he did not have the clumsiness that a bear has. The predator's stunningly built body allowed it to run at high speed even over long distances. Smilodon died out about 10 thousand years ago, which means they lived at the same time as humans, and perhaps even hunted them. Scientists believe that Smilodon attacked prey from an ambush.
Mammoth Columbus- one of the largest mammoths to ever exist on earth, a relative of the more common woolly mammoth. The remains of Colombian mammoths were found along the route from Canada to Mexico. Famous woolly mammoths left their traces in Northern Asia, Russia, Canada. Their main difference is that the Columbian mammoths were practically not covered with hair, which makes them similar to modern elephants, and their tusks were much larger than those of woolly mammoths.
The height of Colombian mammoths was approximately 3-4 m, and their weight reached 5-10 tons. Columbian mammoths have the largest tusks among the elephant family. 3.5 in length, rounded, incredibly strong, they were used to fight all predators, including humans.
Giant sloths. Today, the sloth is one of the cutest creatures, photos of which receive millions of “likes” on social networks. Their ancient ancestors did not seem so charming.
Several species of giant sloths are known. Those that lived in North America were the size of rhinoceroses, and ancient man, perhaps he often dined on them. However, the largest of the giant sloths, Megatherium, lived in South Africa about 10 thousand years ago and were the size of less than an elephant. About 6 m from head to tail, weighing 4 tons, with sharp teeth and long nails, sloths seemed quite formidable animals. Moreover, there is an assumption that they were predators.
The last species of giant sloths lived on the Caribbean islands approximately 4.2 thousand years ago. 
Gigantopithecus- the largest primate to ever walk the earth. This relative of the orangutan deserved its name: the three-meter animal weighed 500 kg and was huge even for the prehistoric world. Interestingly, Gigantopithecus is very similar to images of the Yeti. True, Gigantopithecus died out 100 thousand years ago. In addition, if at that time the giant primates did not think of hiding from people, then it is unlikely that any of them are now hiding in the highlands, scaring tourists under the guise of Bigfoot.
Gigantopithecus lived on Earth for approximately 6-9 million years, feeding on the fruits of Southeast Asia. But with climate change rainforests turned into arid savannas, and Gigantopithecus began to die out from lack of food. 
Cave hyena reached 1 m in height at the shoulders and weighed from 80 to 100 kg. According to calculations based on studies of fossilized remains, a cave hyena was capable of knocking down a 5-year-old mastodon that weighed a ton.
Cave hyenas lived in packs, sometimes consisting of 30 individuals. This made them stronger hunters: together they could attack a 9-year-old mastodon weighing all 9 tons. Needless to say, the man hardly dreamed of meeting a pack of hungry hyenas.
The population of cave hyenas began to decline 20 thousand years ago and finally disappeared 11-13 thousand years ago. Scientists suggest a struggle with humans for cave space during the last ice age as one of the reasons that influenced the extinction of cave hyenas. 
Smilodon- an extinct genus of saber-toothed cats, contrary to stereotypes, which has little in common with saber-toothed tigers.
Saber-toothed cats first appeared 42 million years ago. There were many species of them, most of which became extinct before the appearance of humans. However, at least two species of saber-toothed cats could have been encountered by primitive man in America. They were the size of modern African lion and weighed like an Amur tiger.
Smilodon was an incredibly strong animal - it could easily attack a mammoth. Smilodon used a special tactic: first it waited for prey, approached unnoticed and quickly attacked.
Despite its “saber teeth,” Smilodon does not have the most powerful bite among cats. Thus, the bite of a modern lion is perhaps three times stronger. But the Smilodon’s mouth swung open 120 degrees, which is half the capabilities of the current lion. 
dire wolf- no, “terrible” is not an epithet here, but the name of a species of wolves that lived in North America. Dire wolves appeared about a quarter of a million years ago. They are similar to modern gray wolves, but much tougher. Their length reached 1.5 m, and their weight was about 90 kg.
The dire wolf's bite force was 29% stronger than the gray wolf's bite force. Their main diet was horses. Like many other carnivores, the dire wolf went extinct 10,000 years ago during the last ice age. 
American Lion, despite the name "lion", he was closer to the modern panther than to the lion. American lions inhabited North America about 330 thousand years ago.
The American lion is the largest known wild cat in history. On average, the individual weighed about 350 kg, was incredibly strong and easily attacked the bison. So even the group primitive people I wouldn't be thrilled to meet one of the American lions. Like their previous comrades, American lions went extinct during the last Ice Age. 
Megalania- the largest lizard known to science - lived in Australia and began to disappear approximately 50 thousand years ago, i.e. at the same time as humans began to populate the continent.
The size of megalania is a subject of scientific debate. According to some sources, its length reached 7 m, but there is an opinion that average length was about 3.5 m. But not only size is important: megalania was a poisonous lizard. If its victim did not die from loss of blood, then it certainly died from poisoning - in any case, hardly anyone managed to escape alive from the mouth of megalania. 
Short-faced bear- one of those types of bears that primitive man might have encountered. The ancient bear was about 1.5 meters at the shoulders, but as soon as he stood on his hind legs, he stretched up to 4 m. If this does not sound scary enough, then add this detail: thanks to his long limbs, the bear reached a speed of up to 64 km/ h. This means that Hussein Bolt, whose record is 45 km/h, would easily be his for dinner.
Giant short-faced bears were among the largest carnivores in North America. They appeared about 800 thousand years ago, and died out 11.6 thousand years ago. 
Quincans, land crocodiles appeared quite a long time ago - 1.6 million ago in Australia. The giant ancestors of crocodiles reached 7 m in length. Unlike crocodiles, quincans lived and hunted on land. In this they were helped by long powerful legs to catch up with prey over long distances, and sharp teeth. The fact is that crocodiles use their teeth mainly to grab the victim, drag it away with water and drown it. The teeth of the land quincana were intended for killing; they pierced and literally cut the victim. The Quincans became extinct approximately 50 thousand years ago, having lived for about 10 thousand years side by side with primitive man. 
