Saber-toothed tiger Smilodon. Report, photo, video. Saber-toothed tiger. Description, features, habitat of saber-toothed tigers Saber-toothed tiger pictures

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

Probably the most famous cat family from the recent past of our planet is the Machairodontinae subfamily, whose representatives are better known by the nickname "saber-toothed tigers". The hallmark of saber-toothed pussies were 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 - find out more. And, above all, saber-toothed cats were not at all as huge as they were depicted by computer animators in the film “10,000 BC” ...

saber-toothed cat

Representatives of the cat-saber-toothed family first appeared about 5 million years ago on the territory of modern Africa, in the late Miocene era. In parallel with representatives of especially toothy pussies, there were other families of predators that grew no less large fangs - for example, the cat subfamily Barbourofelis. By the way, saber-toothed cats had a very distant relationship with modern felines and, despite their aggressive disposition, the cute fluffy, perhaps purring now on your lap, bears little resemblance to a powerful saber-toothed predator from the past of mankind.

Sabretooth in the movie "10,000 years ago"

Why were saber-toothed cats not saber-toothed tigers? According to the convinced opinion of paleontologists, modern tigers did not even stand close to them - firstly, the saber-toothed ones led a different lifestyle than tigers, and secondly, they did not have a striped brindle 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 the withers - 120 cm; weight - 350-400 kg. And the parameters of the modern Amur tiger, the largest mustachioed-striped among modern species, are as follows: length is about 350 cm (together with a meter-long tail), height at the withers is 115 cm; weight - 250 kg. Paleontologists believe that saber-toothed cats hunted in a pack, like a modern pride of lions, while tigers hunt alone. In addition, the tiger and smilodon have a different design of the connection of the lower jaw and skull - in saber-toothed, the bones of the lower jaw had a special process, to which muscles were attached, which allowed the cats to deliver a particularly powerful blow with their fangs in the “top-down” direction. The fastening itself between the upper and lower jaws was less rigid, providing a 120-degree opening of the jaws.

Saber-toothed pride after the hunt

Saber-toothed cats combined feline flexibility and bear power in their body. It was the resemblance to 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 mammoth or mastodon cub, several smilodon drove it, one of the saber-toothed with a powerful throw knocked the prey down, jumped on its chest and plunged giant fangs into the throat, while trying not to hook the bones of the spine victims. The menu of representatives of the Machairodontinae family included slow and large mammals of various species, it is possible that it also included human ancestors.

Comparative sizes of smilodon, human and modern tiger

Unlike large modern predators of the cat family, smilodons were less flexible and maneuverable, because. their short tail could not serve as a balance wheel, helping lions and tigers quickly change direction on the run and even in a jump. The length of the fangs in saber-toothed was about 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 appreciate the length of one such tooth more clearly, look at the hand of an adult male - the length of one canine 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 North and South America, smilodons completely died out about 10,000 years ago, simultaneously with the extinction of large mammals, such as mammoths and mastodons. Perhaps the reason for extinction lies in the lack of food and the inability of the saber-toothed to catch more evasive creatures, perhaps our ancestors had a hand in this (in any case, the ancestors of the indigenous population of the New World). In fierce competition, the Smilodon family was defeated, the representatives of the cat family with conical fangs, familiar to us, won.

Most of us are used to the company of pets. Many, in order to brighten up their leisure time, give birth to small and fluffy animals from But hardly anyone thinks about their similarity with predators that died out about 70 million years ago called saber-toothed cats.

habitats

The extinct species flourished in the territories of African lands, and also inhabited the Eurasian and North American continents during the early and middle Miocene. One of its earliest representatives - Pseudaelurus quadridentatus - is considered the founder of the evolutionary development of the species.

During the late Miocene, the saber-toothed cat shared territories with the carnivorous barburofelis, which also had sharp front fangs. The last remnants of the species and its representatives disappear without a trace from the Earth about 10 thousand years ago. More of their population on the planet did not meet.

The evolution of saber-toothed cats

Since this representative of the animal world disappeared from the face of the Earth a very long time ago, most of the knowledge about him is the guesswork of scientists. But with the development of genetics, it is possible to discover more and more interesting facts about extinct species. By studying the finds of archaeologists, you can create a certain image and at least learn a little about these mysterious creatures.

Scientists suggest that the saber-toothed cat in habits and hunting was very similar to tigers, although it was never part of this family. could not prove that the animals had a brindle coloration in the form of stripes and fluffy fur. Also, there was no evidence confirming the similarity of the habits of ancient cats with modern species, so such statements can only be considered as assumptions.

DNA-based scientific research conducted in 2005 confirms the separation of the subfamily "saber-toothed cats" from the great ancestors of our pets, but does not link it to the current species of cats.

Scientists consider the well-known saber-toothed tiger, which did not belong to the representatives in the Ice Age, to be a characteristic representative of this fossil group. In the scientific world, his name is smilodon, which is translated from Latin as "destroyer".

Smilodon: description of the species

Smilodon is the last member of the saber-toothed cat subfamily. The photo of the animal layout is amazing:

• huge, up to 20 centimeters fangs;
• height at the withers reaches a meter and 20 cm;
• body length is more than two meters;
• weight is almost 500 kg.

Such characteristics make these animals the kings of vast territories. The tail alone was 30-35 centimeters long. The stocky physique made the appearance of Smilodon atypical for felines. Only cave and not inferior to him in size.

There is no doubt that the animal was a predator. Few people could survive if a saber-toothed cat went hunting. Photos of the individual and its complete skeleton were taken by scientists during excavations in France.

Existing together with other representatives of the animal world, cats competed for places of hunting and living with:

• cheetahs and panthers in African lands;
• cougars, lions, jaguars in America.

Appearance

Predators were distinguished by conical and saber-toothed fangs. The structure of the jaw of Smilodon was such that it allowed the animal to open its mouth up to 95 °, modern representatives of feline predators are able to do this by no more than 65 °. The bare, curved teeth were sharp like blades. In length, they reached 20 cm. The mighty beast was able to hunt other animals that were larger than it. This is what a saber-toothed cat looks like, whose appearance frightened the inhabitants of the American continent two million years ago.

The jaws of the animal, designed to kill, put the beast in a number of dangerous predators. He had no equal opponents.

A powerful chest and a quarter of the weight of a large lion allowed animals to compete for habitats not only with each other, but also with a short-faced bear, no less strong and hardy animal. Huge size, a body consisting of strong muscles, teeth-knives allowed the predator to hunt the largest representatives of the fauna of that time - mammoths.

Scientists agree that it is impossible to compare an animal with a lion. Yes, the dimensions of his body are commensurate with the dimensions, but the structure of the addition, the proportions of the forms and the massiveness of the front paws against the background of short hind legs do not allow such a comparison.

The muscular neck and bite force allowed the animal, grabbing prey, to knock it down and tear it apart with its claws. In the scientific world, there is still debate about how the saber-toothed cat was painted. The predator, in all likelihood, did not have the traditional tiger stripes. Most likely, his skin was decorated with dark spots.

prehistoric finds

Scientists cannot name the true reasons why such an adapted species of predators, which has all the data for survival, suddenly disappeared from the face of the Earth. Only the fossilized remains of their bones and characteristic teeth remind of an animal called a saber-toothed cat. Finds on the grounds of Los Angeles called "Magic Mile" amaze the modern world with artifacts of prehistoric America.

The lakes and reservoirs of the region emit frightening vapors, and tar vapors emerge from the bowels of the earth. It was in this place that archaeologists were lucky to find the remains of the bones of this animal and many other extinct predators. Resin puddles, disguised in the thick of the forest, became dangerous for many representatives of the animal world. Covered with leaves and broken branches, they formed huge traps. Herbivores bogged down in them, thereby attracting predators, who were waiting for the same fate.

Excavations in the La Brea districts have yielded up to one thousand Smilodon bones, making their number unique. The asphalt and tar filling of the lakes has become a good preservative material. The bones are in excellent shape. Scientists were able to get an idea of ​​​​what saber-toothed cats looked like from them. Photos of fossils found can be found in anthropological museums.

It should be noted that bones of a short-faced bear and a wolf were found among the remains of the Ice Age. These are the direct ancestors of the predators living on our planet today. But the saber-toothed cat did not leave behind any descendants. At the moment, not a single species of direct heirs of Smilodon, Machairod and other species of saber-toothed cats has been found.

Behavioral features

Based on the appearance, the saber-toothed cat, whose behavior was distinguished by aggressiveness, could not move too fast. This is due to the short tail, which does not allow keeping the body in an upright position during a rapid run. Most likely, the animal hid in ambush, waiting for the victim, and swiftly attacked it.

At the dawn of the Pleistocene period, herds of herbivores were huge. It was not difficult for predators to get their own food. Some herbivores were gigantic in size, which did not allow the cat to hunt alone. It is likely that in such a situation predators hunted in packs. During excavations near the bones of one herbivore, several ossified remains of saber-toothed tigers were found.

Flock Care

The fact that the remains of one tiger had serious injuries that did not allow it to hunt alone indicates the possibility of individuals living in packs, where even a wounded animal could exist at the expense of hunting by others.

The natural and preferred dish for any predator is meat. Smilodons can be classified as hypercarnivores. The protein of horses and bison was found in the remains of their bones.

Why do they have such teeth?

The question of the presence of teeth in a predator did not give scientists rest. After all, a lion does not need saber teeth to hunt. To this end, scientists conducted an experiment that recreated the force of a cat bite. It turned out that it is almost two times lower than that of a lion. It turns out that in modern lions, the bite force determines the size of the victim.

The teeth of a prehistoric individual had deadly power if used back and forth. Movement from side to side could easily damage them, simply breaking them. When the fang got stuck in the body of the victim, it easily broke. With the loss of a tooth, the possibility of a fruitful hunt was halved, and this threatened death from starvation.

The hypothesis that the wounded animals could be eaten by their own members of the pack, scientists do not confirm, but do not reject either. Perhaps this property of the teeth did not make it possible for representatives of the species to survive to this day. But this is a question for scientists.

Scary but popular

The sight of a prehistoric predator, even created from the remains of a skeleton, causes a slight shiver. However, saber-toothed cats have become popular not only in the world of artifact finds. The image of a strong, insidious representative of the ice age was created by animators in the film of the same name. His images appeared on children's T-shirts, stickers and backpacks. Animal figurines could be found in the toy store.

We want to associate everything unknown and beyond our control with the features of conditional nobility. Of course, the saber-toothed tiger is an invention of artists, but to create its image on the screen, the masters of the genre used and took into account the features of the skeleton of an animal that actually lived on Earth millions of years ago. Even watching a cartoon character, one can note his predatory independence and independence.

The saber-toothed tiger belongs to the family saber-toothed cats, which became extinct over 10,000 years ago. They belong to the Mahairod family. So the predators were nicknamed because of the monstrously large twenty-centimeter fangs, which were shaped like dagger blades. And besides, they were jagged along the edges, like the weapon itself.

When the mouth was closed, the ends of the fangs were lowered below the chin. It is for this reason that the mouth itself opened twice as wide as that of a modern predator.

The purpose of this terrible weapon is still a mystery. There are suggestions that the size of the fangs males attracted the best females. And during the hunt, they inflicted mortal wounds on prey, which, due to severe loss of blood, became weak and could not escape. They could also, with the help of fangs, using it as a can opener, rip off the skin of a captured animal.

Samo animal Saber Tooth Tiger, was very imposing and muscular, you can call him the "ideal" killer. Presumably, its length was about 1.5 meters.

The body rested on short legs, and the tail looked like a stump. There was no question of any grace and feline smoothness in movements with such limbs. The reaction speed, strength and instinct of the hunter came out on top, because he also could not pursue the prey for a long time because of the structure of his body, and quickly got tired.

It is believed that the color of the skin of the tiger was more spotted than striped. The main color was camouflage shades: brown or red. There are rumors about unique white saber-toothed tigers.

Albinos are still found in the cat family, so with all the courage we can say that such a coloring was also found in prehistoric times. Ancient people met a predator before its disappearance, and its appearance undoubtedly inspired fear. This can be experienced even now by looking at photo of a saber-toothed tiger or seeing his remains in a museum.

Pictured is the skull of a saber-toothed tiger

Saber-toothed tigers lived in prides and could go hunting together, which makes their lifestyle more like. There is evidence that while living together, weaker or injured individuals fed on the successful hunting of healthy animals.

Saber-toothed tiger habitat

Saber-toothed tigers dominated the territories of modern South and North America for quite a long time from the beginning of the Quaternary period- Pleistocene. In much smaller quantities, the remains of saber-toothed tigers have been found on the continents of Eurasia and Africa.

The most famous were the fossils that were found in California in an oil lake, which was once an ancient place for animals to drink. There, both the victims of saber-toothed tigers and the hunters themselves fell into a trap. Thanks to the environment, the bones of both are perfectly preserved. And scientists keep getting new information about saber-toothed tigers.

The habitat for them were areas with low vegetation, similar to modern savannahs and prairies. How saber-toothed tigers lived and hunted in them, can be seen on pictures.

Food

Like all modern predators, they were carnivores. Moreover, they were distinguished by a great need for meat and in huge quantities. They hunted only large animals. These were prehistoric, three-toed, and large proboscis.

Could attack saber-toothed tigers and on a small mammoth. Animals of small size could not supplement the diet of this predator, because he could not catch and eat them because of his slowness, large teeth would interfere with him. Many scientists argue that the saber-toothed tiger did not refuse carrion during a bad period for food.

Saber-toothed tiger in the museum

The reason for the extinction of saber-toothed tigers

The exact cause of extinction has not been established. But there are several hypotheses that will help explain this fact. Two of them are directly related to the feeding of this predator.

The first assumes that they ate saber-toothed tigers not meat, but the blood of prey. Their fangs, they used as needles. Piercing the body of the victim in the area of ​​the liver, and lapped up the flowing blood.

The carcass itself remained untouched. Such food forced predators to hunt for almost a whole day and kill a lot of animals. This was possible before the Ice Age. After, when there was practically no game, the saber-toothed died of starvation.

The second, more common, says that the extinction of saber-toothed tigers is associated with the direct disappearance of the animals that made up their usual diet. And on the other, they simply could not rebuild because of their anatomical features.

Now there are opinions that saber-toothed tigers still alive and they were seen in Central Africa by hunters from local tribes who call it "mountain lion".

But this has not been documented, and still remains at the level of stories. Scientists do not refute the possibility of the existence of some such specimens now. If saber-toothed tigers and, however, they find it, they will immediately get on the pages Red Book.

Most of us met 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 media replication.

Modern science believes that these animals lived in prides, hunted together and were generally closer to modern lions, but this does not speak of their relationship and even identity. The ancestors of modern cats and the ancestors of saber-toothed cats separated in the process of evolution millions of years ago. In Eurasia, saber-toothed cats are thought to have died out 30,000 years ago, and in the Americas, the last saber-toothed cat died about 10,000 years ago. However, information is coming from Africa that suggests that the saber-toothed tiger may still have survived in the wilds of this mainland.
One person who talks about this possibility is Christian Le Noel, a well-known French African big game hunter. In the second half of the twentieth century, Noel made a living organizing African hunts for moneybags. He spent many years in the Central African Republic near Lake Chad. Below is an abridged translation of Le Noel's article on saber-toothed tigers.
Saber-toothed tigers in central Africa?
In the Central African Republic, where I worked professionally as a hunt manager and organizer for twelve years, local African tribes talk a lot about a saber-toothed predator, which they call Koq-Nindji, which translates as "mountain tiger".
Interestingly, among the legendary animals, Koq-Nindji occupies a privileged position. The fact is that stories about this animal are common among the peoples of various races and tribes, many of which have never met each other. All these peoples call the habitat of the "mountain tiger" the area bounded by the mountainous Tibesti plateau, the left tributary of the Nile - the 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 in several thousand square kilometers.