Just so everyone is aware, the top image is the cub of the sabertooth belonging to the genus Homotherium while the bottom image is a lion cub.
This find is also a big deal because with the exception of one other fossil, this is one of the only examples of Homotherium dating to 35-37k in this part of the world. In Eurasia, we thought they went extinct 200-300k which is later than their extinction in Africa (1.5 mya) and much earlier than their extinction in North America, which only occurred at the end of the last ice age around 12k.
Graphic_Materialz on November 16th, 2024 at 08:45 UTC »
Ancient murder kitteh. Good kitteh.
fromwhichofthisoak on November 16th, 2024 at 09:07 UTC »
Bring them back
suchascenicworld on November 16th, 2024 at 13:03 UTC »
Just so everyone is aware, the top image is the cub of the sabertooth belonging to the genus Homotherium while the bottom image is a lion cub.
This find is also a big deal because with the exception of one other fossil, this is one of the only examples of Homotherium dating to 35-37k in this part of the world. In Eurasia, we thought they went extinct 200-300k which is later than their extinction in Africa (1.5 mya) and much earlier than their extinction in North America, which only occurred at the end of the last ice age around 12k.
The whole article can be found here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-79546-1
Edit: I originally said the bottom was a cave lion cub but as it turns out, its a modern lion cub! Thanks for pointing it out!