Homotherium
Homotherium Temporal range: Early Pliocene to Late Pleistocene,
| |
---|---|
Skeleton of H. serum from Friesenhahn cave, Texas Science & Natural History Museum, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | Felidae |
Subfamily: | †Machairodontinae |
Tribe: | †Homotherini |
Genus: | †Homotherium Fabrini, 1890 |
Type species | |
Homotherium latidens Owen, 1846
| |
Other species | |
For others, see text | |
Synonyms | |
|
Homotherium is an extinct genus of scimitar-toothed cat belonging to the extinct subfamily Machairodontinae that inhabited North America, Eurasia, and Africa (as well as possibly South America) during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs from around 4 million to 12,000 years ago.[1][2] It was one of the last surviving members of the subfamily alongside the more famous sabertooth Smilodon, to which it was distantly related. It was a large cat, comparable in size to a lion, functioning as an apex predator in the ecosystems it inhabited. In comparison to Smilodon, the canines of Homotherium were shorter (though still longer than those of living cats), and it is suggested to have a different ecology from Smilodon as pursuit predator adapted to running down large prey in open habitats, with species of the genus also proposed to have engaged in cooperative hunting.
History, taxonomy and evolution
[edit]Eurasia
[edit]The first fossils of this genus were scientifically described in 1846 by Richard Owen as the species Machairodus latidens,[3] based on Pleistocene aged canine teeth found in Kent’s Cavern in Devon, England by the Reverend John MacEnery in 1826.[4] The name Homotherium (Greek: ὁμός (homos, 'same') and θηρίον (therion, 'beast')) was proposed by Emilio Fabrini (1890), without further explanation, for a new subgenus of Machairodus, whose main distinguishing feature was the presence of a large diastema between the two inferior premolars. He further described two species in this new subgenus: Machairodus (Megantereon) crenatidens and Machairodus (Megantereon) nestianus.[5] In 1918, the species Homotherium moravicum was described by Woldřich.[6] In 1936, Teilhard de Chardin described the new species Homotherium ultimus based on fossils from the middle Pleistocene-aged Zhoukoudian cave complex near Beijing in northern China.[7] In 1972, a species Homotherium davitašvlii was described based on fragmentary material found at Kvabebi in Georgia.[8] Other material from Odessa in Ukraine was tentatively assigned to this species in 2004.[9] In 1986, the species Homotherium darvasicum was described based on material from Kuruksay, Turkey.[10] In 1989, another species Homotherium tielhardipiveteaui was named based on fossils from Tajikistan.[11] In 1996, Homotherium hengduanshanense was described based on fossils from the Hengduan Mountains of southwestern China.[12]
There is currently only one recognised species of Homotherium in Eurasia during the Late Pliocene-Pleistocene, Homotherium latidens; other species, including H. nestianus, H. sainzelli, H. crenatidens, H. nihowanensis, and H. ultimum, were proposed mainly on size differences, and do not appear to be distinct.[13]
Africa
[edit]In 1972 a species Homotherium problematicum (originally Megantereon problematicus) was named based on fragmentary material from the Makapansgat locality in South Africa, of late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene age.[14][15] A second African species discovered in the Pliocene aged Hadar Formation of the Afar region of Ethiopia, Homotherium hadarensis, was described in 1988.[16] In 1990, Alan Turner challenged the validity of these two species, and later authors typically refrained from referring the African fossils to any specific species,[13] although in 2015, further material from the Hadar Formation was tentatively referred to H. hadarensis.[17] A third species, Homotherium africanum (originally Machairodus africanus), has also been included based on remains found in Aïn Brimba, in Tunisia, North Africa,[18][19][20] dating to the early-middle Pliocene, with other indeterminate remains of Homotherium being reported from the Ahl al Oughlam locality in Morocco, dating to the Late Pliocene.[21] In 2021, indeterminate remains of Homotherium were reported from the Tobène locality of Senegal, dating to the Early Pliocene.[22]
Americas
[edit]In 1905, Merriam described a new species Machaerodus ischyrus.[23] Subsequently, in 1918, Merriam reassigned it to a new genus Ischyrosmilus along with the new species Ischyrosmilus idahoensis.[24] The genus Dinobastis was originally named by Cope in 1893, with the type species Dinobastis serus.[25] In 1965, the species Ischyrosmilus johnstoni was described. In the same paper, it was noted that a comparative study of both Ischyrosmilus and Homotherium might conclude them as synonyms.[26]
In 1966, Churcher named Dinobastis a junior synonym of Homotherium, and recombined D. serus as Homotherium serum.[27] In 1970, a new species Ischyrosmilus crusafonti was described from the early Pleistocene of Nebraska.[28] In 1988, after some debate, the genus Ischyrosmilus was declared a junior synonym of Homotherium and all four species were reassigned to that genus as H. ischyrus, H. idahoensis, and H. johnstoni. The same paper also proposed keeping Dinobastis serus separate from Homotherium.[29] Up to five species have been recognised from North America: H. idahoensis, H. crusafonti, H. ischyrus, H. johnstoni, and H. serum,[30] while other authors suggest that there are only two species, with older Blancan (Pliocene-Early Pleistocene) specimens assigned to the species H. ischyrus, while the younger ones (mostly Late Pleistocene in age) are assigned to the species H. serum. H. serum is morphologically similar to the Eurasian H. latidens, which may suggest that they share a close common origin, with H. serum possibly originating from a migration of H. latidens into North America rather than from earlier North American Homotherium.[13]
In 2005, a new species Homotherium venezuelensis was described based on fossils from the Pleistocene of Venezuela.[31] In 2022, it was proposed that Homotherium venezuelensis be reassigned to the genus Xenosmilus (a genus originally described for Early-Middle Pleistocene aged fossils found in Florida)[32] which was endorsed by another group of authors in 2024.[33] The 2022 study found that Xenosmilus was nested within Homotherium as traditionally defined, making Homotherium without including the species in Xenosmilus paraphyletic.[32]
Evolutionary history
[edit]The lineage of Homotherium is estimated (based on mitochondrial DNA sequences) to have diverged from that of Smilodon about 18 million years ago.[34] Homotherium has been suggested to have originated from African species of the genus Amphimachairodus.[22] Homotherium first appeared during the Early Pliocene, about 4 million years ago, with its oldest remains being from the Odesa catacombs in Ukraine, and Koobi Fora in Kenya, which are close in age, making the origin location of the genus uncertain. The genus arrived in North America during the late Pliocene (~3.6-2.6 million years ago).[13] Remains either attributed to Homotherium or Xenosmilus are known from Venezuela in northern South America, of an uncertain Early-Middle Pleistocene age.[35] On the African continent the genus disappeared about 1.5 million years ago, during the Early Pleistocene.[36] The latest records of Homotherium in Europe date to the late Middle Pleistocene, around 300-200,000 years ago,[37] with the exception of a single lower jaw bone from the North Sea which dates to around 28-30,000 years ago.[38] The mitochondrial genome of this specimen is nearly identical to specimens known from North America, suggesting that this may have represented a Late Pleistocene dispersal from North America, rather than a continuous undocumented occupation of the region.[34] In 2024, a mummy of a Homotherium latidens cub was reported from the Upper Pleistocene from the Badyarikha River, Yakutia in northeastern Siberia, dating to 35,471–37,019 years Before Present, marking the first recorded presence of the species in the Upper Pleistocene of Asia.[39] Homotherium serum became extinct in North America around 12,000 years ago as part of the end-Pleistocene extinction event of most large mammals across the Americas.[40]
Description
[edit]Homotherium reached 1.1 m (3 ft 7 in) at the shoulder and weighed an estimated 190 kg (420 lb) and was therefore about the size of a male lion.[41][42] In comparison to its likely ancestor Amphimachairodus, the upper incisors display stronger serration, are larger and more arched, the upper second premolar (P2) is always absent, and the upper and lower third premolars (P3 and p3) are smaller, and the morphology of the upper fourth premolar (P4) displays differences.[32] Homotherium had shorter upper canines than members of the machairodont tribe Smilodontini such as Smilodon or Megantereon, but these were still longer than those of extant cats. The incisors and lower canines of Homotherium formed a powerful puncturing and gripping device, and its large canine teeth were coarsely serrated. The jaws of Homotherium may have been adapted to clamp and hold prey while inflicting damage with the canine teeth, due to comparable amounts of trabecular bone present in skulls of the genus to those of the modern lion.[43][44]
The large upper canines of Homotherium, which are distinctly flattened,[45] were likely hidden by the upper lips and gum tissues of the lower lips jaw similar to extant cats, unlike the larger upper canines of Smilodon. This hypothesis is further supported by comparable space between the canines and mandible at full closure of the jaws to modern cats; while Smilodon has significantly more space in this respect, likely for soft tissue to fit between the canine and mandible.[46]
Compared to Smilodon, the legs were proportionally longer, and the forelimbs were less powerfully built, being narrow and intermediate in form between those of cheetahs and lions. The neck was relatively long and thick with a high degree of flexibility, while the back was relatively short. The tail was very short. The claws were small and semi-retractable, the dewclaw being large, with the second phalanges being less asymmetrical than those of lions, giving the feet a dog-like posture. The part of the humerus closest to the foot was narrow, with the olecranon fossa being strongly vertical. The hindfeet were held in a raised digitigrade posture. Homotherium likely walked with a posture intermediate between that of living big cats and hyenas, similar to that of canines.[45]
Preserved soft tissue of a three-week old cub of a H. latidens found in Siberia in 2020 and described in 2024 indicates that the coat color for juveniles of this species was a black or dark brown color with pale paws and chin. The fur on the corner of the mouth region and back of the neck were longer than on the forelimbs of the mummy. Additionally, the cub had wide, rounded paws, which lacked a carpal pad, and its fur was dense: adaptations to traversing snowy terrain effectively, showcasing these features developed at a young age.[39]
Paleoecology
[edit]Homotherium is suggested to have been adapted to the hunting of large prey.[45] The reduced claws, relatively slender and long limbs, and sloping back all appear to be adaptations for moderate speed endurance running in open habitats.[47][45] The running-adapted morphology of its forelimbs suggests that they were less useful than those of Smilodon or many living big cats in restraining prey and that the incisors instead played a greater role than in living cats, like in hyenas and canines.[45] It has been suggested that Homotherium killed prey by slashing bites to the throat inflicted by its canines, though its style of prey restraint was probably different to that of Smilodon (which had more powerful forelimbs which helped to better restrain prey to protect its more fragile canines) with a killing technique more similar in some aspects to the clamp-and-hold technique used by living big cats like lions.[43] It has been speculated based on its adaptation to open habitats and high levels of competition from other carnivores, that Homotherium probably relied on group hunting.[45]
Analysis of the genome of a Homotherium specimen found in permafrost in Yukon suggests that Homotherium experienced positive selection for genes related to respiration and the circulatory system, which may have been adaptations for endurance running. Positive selection for genes related to vision indicates that sight probably played an important role in hunting, suggesting that Homotherium was a diurnal (day active) hunter. Selection for genes related to cognition were tentatively suggested by researchers to possibly support the social hunting hypothesis.[48] Dental microwear analysis of specimens of H. serum from North America suggests that Homotherium regularly consumed tough-fleshed prey, but did not consume bone.[44]
Isotopic analysis of H. latidens from the Venta Micena locality in southeast Spain dating to the Early Pleistocene, around 1.6 million years ago, suggests that at this locality H. latidens was the apex predator and hunted large prey in open habitats (likely including the equine Equus altidens, bison, as well as possibly juveniles of the mammoth Mammuthus meridionalis) and niche partitioned with the sabertooth Megantereon (a close relative of Smilodon) and the "European jaguar" Panthera gombaszoegensis, which hunted somewhat smaller prey in forested habitats.[49]
Analysis of specimens from Punta Lucero in northern Spain, dating to the early Middle Pleistocene (600-400,000 years ago), suggests that H. latidens at this locality exclusively consumed large (from 45 kilograms (99 lb) to over 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb)) prey, likely including aurochs, bison, red deer, and/or the giant deer Praemegaceros, and heavily overlapped in diet with the coexisting "European jaguar" Panthera gombaszoegensis.[50]
At the Friesenhahn Cave site in Texas, which dates to the Late Pleistocene, the remains of almost 400 juvenile Columbian mammoths were discovered along with numerous Homotherium serum skeletons of all ages, from elderly specimens to cubs.[51] The sloped back and powerful lumbar section of Homotherium's vertebrae suggest a bear-like build, and thus that these animals could have been capable of pulling formidable loads; further, broken upper canines - a common injury in fossils of other machairodonts such as Machairodus and Smilodon that would have resulted from struggling with their prey - is not seen in Homotherium, perhaps because their social groups would completely restrain prey items before any of the cats attempted to kill the target with their saber teeth, or because the canines were less frail due to being covered. Moreover, the bones of the young mammoths found in Friesenhahn Cave show distinctive marks matching the incisors of Homotherium, indicating that they could efficiently process most of the meat on a carcass and that the mammoths had been deposited in the caves by the cats themselves and not by scavengers. Examination of the bones also indicates that the carcasses of these juvenile mammoths were dismembered after being killed by the cats before being dragged away, suggesting that Homotherium would disarticulate their kill to transport it to a safe area such as a hidden lair or den and prevent competitors such as dire wolves and American lions from usurping the carcass.[52] Isotopic analysis of H. serum dental remains at Friesenhahn Cave have confirmed that at this locality it fed on mammoths, along with other C4 grazers, like bison and horses in open habitats.[44]
Isotopic analysis of H. serum specimens from Eastern Beringia (now Alaska and Yukon) suggests that in this region the species was not a specialised mammoth predator, and consumed a variety of large prey, likely including bison, muskox, horse and reindeer, as well as also probably woolly mammoths.[53]
Relationship with humans
[edit]Homotherium has a long history of co-occurence with archaic humans across Afro-Eurasia, ranging from Australopithecus in the Pliocene of Africa, to Homo erectus in Zhoukoudian cave in the Early-Middle Pleistocene of China and Homo heidelbergensis in the Middle Pleistocene of Europe. The seeming extinction of Homotherium latidens in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene may have been the result of competition with Homo heidelbergensis (in combination with the lion Panthera fossilis).[47] Isotopic analysis of the canine teeth of H. latidens found in Kent's Cavern found that they were isotopically distinct from other animal remains found in the cave, suggesting that the teeth were deliberately transported into the cave by humans during the Palaeolithic from further afield, perhaps as a kind of trade good. The teeth are suggested to have experienced considerable weathering prior to being taken into Kent's Cavern,[54] and it is unclear whether these teeth were taken from the remains of relatively recently dead Homotherium or subfossil remains of long-dead Homotherium individuals.[4] At the end of the Late Pleistocene in North America, Homotherium serum co-existed with Palaeoindians, the first humans to inhabit the Americas. The effect of human hunting of large herbivores which H. serum relied upon may have been a contributory factor in its extinction along with other large carnivores in North America.[55]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Antón, Mauricio (2013). Sabertooth. Life of the past. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-01042-1.
- ^ Turner, A. (1997). 'The big cats and their fossil relatives. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10229-1
- ^ Owen, Richard (1846). A History of British Mammals and Birds.
- ^ a b Barnett, Ross (January 2014). "An inventory of British remains of Homotherium (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae), with special reference to the material from Kent's Cavern". Geobios. 47 (1–2): 19–29. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2013.12.004.
- ^ Fabrini, E. (1890). "I Machairodus (Meganthereon) del Val d'Arno superiore". Bollettino Comitato Geologico d'Italia (in Italian). 21: 121–144, 161–177.
- ^ Woldřich, J. (1916). "První nálezy Machaerodů v jeskynním diluviu moravském a dolnorakouském" [The first finds of Machaerods in the Moravian and Lower Austrian cave diluvium]. Rozpravy České akademie cís. Fr. Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění, třída II (in Czech). 25 (12): 1–8.
- ^ P. Teilhard de Chardin (1936). "Fossil mammals from Locality 9 of Choukoutien". Palaeontol. Sin. Ser. C. 7: 1–61.
- ^ A.K. Vekua (1972). "Kvabebskaya Fauna Akchagyl'skikh pozvonochnykh" [The Kvabebi Fauna of Akchagylian Vertebrates]. Nauka.
- ^ Sotnikova, M. V. (2004). "New data on the Pliocene carnivore fauna of Odessa Catacombs". Problems of Stratigraphy of the Phanerozoic of Ukraine. Institute of Geological Sciences, Kiev: 199–202.
- ^ Scharapov, S. (1986). "Kuruksajskij kompleks pozdnepliocenovych mlekopitajushchikh Afgano-Tadshikskoj depressii" [The Kuruksai complex of late Pliocene milk-bearing mammals of the Afgano-Tadshik depression]. Duanbe (Donis) (in Slovenian). 272.
- ^ Scharapov, S. (1989). "On a new species of the saber-toothed cat from the Late Eopleistocene of the Afgano-Tadjik depression and the evolution of the genus Homotherium Fabrini, 1890". Paleontological Journal, Moscow. 3: 73–83.
- ^ Guanfu, Zong, ed. (1996). Cenozoic mammals and environment of Hengduan Mountains Region. Beijing: China Ocean Press. ISBN 978-7-5027-4157-0.
- ^ a b c d Antón, M.; Salesa, M.J.; Galobart, A.; Tseng, Z.J. (July 2014). "The Plio-Pleistocene scimitar-toothed felid genus Homotherium Fabrini, 1890 (Machairodontinae, Homotherini): diversity, palaeogeography and taxonomic implications". Quaternary Science Reviews. 96: 259–268. Bibcode:2014QSRv...96..259A. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.11.022.
- ^ Collings, G.E. (1972). "A new species of machairodont from Makapansgat". Palaeont. Afr. 14: 87–92. hdl:10539/16028.
- ^ Reed, Kaye E.; Kuykendall, Kevin L.; Herries, Andy I.R.; Hopley, Philip J.; Sponheimer, Matt; Werdelin, Lars (2022-06-09), Reynolds, Sally C.; Bobe, René (eds.), "Geology, Fauna, and Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions of the Makapansgat Limeworks Australopithecus africanus -Bearing Paleo-Cave", African Paleoecology and Human Evolution (1 ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 66–81, doi:10.1017/9781139696470.007, ISBN 978-1-139-69647-0, retrieved 2024-11-15
- ^ G. Petter; F.C. Howell (1988). "Nouveau felidé machairodonte (Mammalia, Carnivora) de la faune pliocène de l'Afar (Ethiopie) Homotherium hadarensis n. sp". C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris. 306: 731–738.
- ^ Geraads, Denis; Alemseged, Zeresenay; Bobe, René; Reed, Denné (2015). "Pliocene Carnivora (Mammalia) from the Hadar Formation at Dikika, Lower Awash Valley, Ethiopia". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 107: 28–35. Bibcode:2015JAfES.107...28G. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.03.020.
- ^ Arambourg, C. (1970). "Les vértébres du Pléistocène de l'Afrique du Nord". Archives du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle. 10: 1–127.
- ^ Petter, G.; Howell, F.C. (1987). "Machairodus africanus Arambourg, 1970 (Carnivora, Mammalia) du Villafranchien d'Aïn Brimba, Tunisie". Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 4Eme SEr., C, 9. 4: 97–119.
- ^ Werdelin, Lars; Lewis, Margaret E. (2020). "A contextual review of the Carnivora of Kanapoi". Journal of Human Evolution. 140. Bibcode:2020JHumE.14002334W. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.05.001. PMID 28625408. S2CID 23285088.
- ^ Geraads, Denis (2008). "Plio-Pleistocene Carnivora of northwestern Africa: A short review". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 7 (8): 591–599. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2008.09.008.
- ^ a b Lihoreau, Fabrice; Sarr, Raphaël; Chardon, Domininique; Boisserie, Jean-Renaud; Lebrun, Renaud; Adnet, Sylvain; Martin, Jeremy E.; Pallas, Laurent; Sambou, Bernard; Tabuce, Rodolphe; Thiam, Mohamadou M.; Hautier, Lionel (November 2021). "A fossil terrestrial fauna from Tobène (Senegal) provides a unique early Pliocene window in western Africa". Gondwana Research. 99: 21–35. Bibcode:2021GondR..99...21L. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2021.06.013.
- ^ Merriam, J. C. (1905). "A new saber-tooth from California". Univ. Calif. Publ. B Geol. 4: 171–175.
- ^ Merriam, J. C. (1918). "New mammalia from the Idaho formation". Univ. Calif. Publ. Bull. Dept. Geol. 10: 523–530.
- ^ Cope, E.D. (1893). "A new Pleistocene sabre-tooth". The American Naturalist. 27: 896–897.
- ^ Mawby, John E. (1965). "Machairodonts from the Late Cenozoic of the Panhandle of Texas". Journal of Mammalogy. 46 (4): 573–587. doi:10.2307/1377928. JSTOR 1377928.
- ^ Churcher, C. S. (1966). "The affinities of Dinobastis serus Cope 1893". Quaternaria (8): 263–275.
- ^ Schultz, C.; Martin, Larry (November 1970). "Machairodont Cats from the Early Pleistocene Broadwater and Lisco Local Faunas". Bulletin of the University of Nebraska State Museum.
- ^ Martin, Larry D.; Schultz, C. B.; Schultz, M. R. (1988). "Saber-Toothed Cats from the Plio-Pleistocene of Nebraska". Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies. 186.
- ^ L.D. Martin; V.L. Naples; J.P. Babiarz (2011). "Revision of the new World Homotheriini". The Other Saber-tooths: Scimitar-tooth Cats of the Western Hemisphere. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 185–194.
- ^ Rincón, Ascanio D.; Prevosti, Francisco J.; Parra, Gilberto E. (2011). "New Saber-Toothed Cat Records (Felidae: Machairodontinae) for the Pleistocene of Venezuela, and the Great American Biotic Interchange". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (2): 468–478. Bibcode:2011JVPal..31..468R. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.550366. hdl:11336/69016. JSTOR 25835839. S2CID 129693331.
- ^ a b c Jiangzuo, Qigao; Werdelin, Lars; Sun, Yuanlin (May 2022). "A dwarf sabertooth cat (Felidae: Machairodontinae) from Shanxi, China, and the phylogeny of the sabertooth tribe Machairodontini". Quaternary Science Reviews. 284. Article 107517. Bibcode:2022QSRv..28407517J. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107517.
- ^ Manzuetti, Aldo; Jones, Washington; Rinderknecht, Andrés; Ubilla, Martín; Perea, Daniel (December 2024). "Body mass of a large-sized Homotheriini (Felidae, Machairodontinae) from the Late Pliocene-Middle Pleistocene in Southern Uruguay: Paleoecological implications". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 149. Article 105231. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2024.105231.
- ^ a b Paijmans, Johanna L.A.; Barnett, Ross; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.; Zepeda-Mendoza, M. Lisandra; Reumer, Jelle W.F.; de Vos, John; Zazula, Grant; Nagel, Doris; Baryshnikov, Gennady F.; Leonard, Jennifer A.; Rohland, Nadin; Westbury, Michael V.; Barlow, Axel; Hofreiter, Michael (November 2017). "Evolutionary History of Saber-Toothed Cats Based on Ancient Mitogenomics". Current Biology. 27 (21): 3330–3336.e5. Bibcode:2017CBio...27E3330P. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.033. PMID 29056454.
- ^ Rincón, Ascanio D.; Prevosti, Francisco J.; Parra, Gilberto E. (17 March 2011). "New saber-toothed cat records (Felidae: Machairodontinae) for the Pleistocene of Venezuela, and the Great American Biotic Interchange". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 31 (2): 468–478. Bibcode:2011JVPal..31..468R. doi:10.1080/02724634.2011.550366. hdl:11336/69016. S2CID 129693331.
- ^ Turner, Alan (1990). "The evolution of the guild of larger terrestrial carnivores during the Plio-Pleistocene in Africa". Geobios. 23 (3): 349–368. Bibcode:1990Geobi..23..349T. doi:10.1016/0016-6995(90)80006-2.
- ^ Diedrich, Cajus G.; McFarlane, Donald A. (29 April 2017). "Homotherium from Middle Pleistocene archaeological and carnivore den sites of Germany – Taxonomy, taphonomy and a revision of the Schöningen, West Runton and other saber-tooth cat sites". Quaternary International. 436: 76–83. Bibcode:2017QuInt.436...76D. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2016.10.015. Retrieved 20 July 2024 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
- ^ Reumer, Jelle W. F.; Rook, Lorenzo; Van Der Borg, Klaas; Post, Klaas; Mol, Dick; De Vos, John (11 April 2003). "Late Pleistocene survival of the saber-toothed cat Homotherium in northwestern Europe". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 23 (1): 260–262. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2003)23[260:LPSOTS]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 140187064.
- ^ a b Lopatin, A. V.; Sotnikova, M. V.; Klimovsky, A. I.; Lavrov, A. V.; Protopopov, A. V.; Gimranov, D. O.; Parkhomchuk, E. V. (14 November 2024). "Mummy of a juvenile sabre-toothed cat Homotherium latidens from the Upper Pleistocene of Siberia". Scientific Reports. 14 (1). doi:10.1038/s41598-024-79546-1. ISSN 2045-2322. PMID 39543377.
- ^ Ewald, Tatyanna; Hills, L.V.; Tolman, Shayne; Kooyman, Brian (January 2018). "Scimitar cat ( Homotherium serum Cope) from southwestern Alberta, Canada". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 55 (1): 8–17. Bibcode:2018CaJES..55....8E. doi:10.1139/cjes-2017-0130. hdl:1807/79756. ISSN 0008-4077.
- ^ Sorkin, Boris (2008). "A biomechanical constraint on body mass in terrestrial mammalian predators". Lethaia. 41 (4): 333–347. Bibcode:2008Letha..41..333S. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.2007.00091.x.
- ^ Evans, Glen L.; Meade, Grayson E. (September 1961). "The Saber-toothed Cat, Dinobastis serus". Bulletin of the Texas Memorial Museum (2): 23–60. hdl:2152/29926. ISSN 0082-3074.
- ^ a b Figueirido, Borja; Lautenschlager, Stephan; Pérez-Ramos, Alejandro; Van Valkenburgh, Blaire (October 2018). "Distinct Predatory Behaviors in Scimitar- and Dirk-Toothed Sabertooth Cats". Current Biology. 28 (20): 3260–3266.e3. Bibcode:2018CBio...28E3260F. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.08.012. hdl:10630/29727. PMID 30293717.
- ^ a b c DeSantis, Larisa R. G.; Feranec, Robert S.; Antón, Mauricio; Lundelius, Ernest L. (21 June 2021). "Dietary ecology of the scimitar-toothed cat Homotherium serum". Current Biology. 31 (12): 2674–2681.e3. Bibcode:2021CBio...31E2674D. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.03.061. PMID 33862006.
- ^ a b c d e f Antón, Mauricio (2022). "Behaviour of Homotherium in the Light of Modern African Big Cats". In Conard, N. J.; Hassmann, H.; Hillgruber, K. F.; Serangeli, J.; Terberger, H. (eds.). The Homotherium Finds from Schöningen 13II-4: Man and Big Cats of the Ice Age. Contributions of the scientific workshop at the paläon (Schöningen) from 05.06 to 07.06.2015. Heidelberg: Propylaeum. pp. 19–34. doi:10.11588/propylaeum.1006.c13519. ISBN 978-3-96929-136-8.
- ^ Antón, Mauricio; Siliceo, Gema; Pastor, Juan F.; Salesa, Manuel J. (2022). "Concealed weapons: A revised reconstruction of the facial anatomy and life appearance of the sabre-toothed cat Homotherium latidens (Felidae, Machairodontinae)". Quaternary Science Reviews. 284: 107471. Bibcode:2022QSRv..28407471A. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107471. hdl:10261/270770.
- ^ a b Anton, M.; Galobart, A.; Turner, A. (May 2005). "Co-existence of scimitar-toothed cats, lions and hominins in the European Pleistocene. Implications of the post-cranial anatomy of (Owen) for comparative palaeoecology". Quaternary Science Reviews. 24 (10–11): 1287–1301. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2004.09.008.
- ^ Barnett, Ross; Westbury, Michael V.; Sandoval-Velasco, Marcela; Vieira, Filipe Garrett; Jeon, Sungwon; Zazula, Grant; Martin, Michael D.; Ho, Simon Y. W.; Mather, Niklas; Gopalakrishnan, Shyam; Ramos-Madrigal, Jazmín; Manuel, Marc de; Zepeda-Mendoza, M. Lisandra; Antunes, Agostinho; Baez, Aldo Carmona; Cahsan, Binia De; Larson, Greger; O'Brien, Stephen J.; Eizirik, Eduardo; Johnson, Warren E.; Koepfli, Klaus-Peter; Wilting, Andreas; Fickel, Jörns; Dalén, Love; Lorenzen, Eline D.; Marques-Bonet, Tomas; Hansen, Anders J.; Zhang, Guojie; Bhak, Jong; Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki; Gilbert, M. Thomas P. (21 December 2020). "Genomic Adaptations and Evolutionary History of the Extinct Scimitar-Toothed Cat, Homotherium latidens". Current Biology. 30 (24): 5018–5025.e5. Bibcode:2020CBio...30E5018B. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.09.051. PMC 7762822. PMID 33065008.
- ^ Palmqvist, P.; Perez-Claros, J. A.; Janis, C. M.; Figueirido, B.; Torregrosa, V.; Grocke, D. R. (November 2008). "Biogeochemical and Ecomorphological Inferences On Prey Selection and Resource Partitioning Among Mammalian Carnivores In An Early Pleistocene Community". PALAIOS. 23 (11): 724–737. Bibcode:2008Palai..23..724P. doi:10.2110/palo.2007.p07-073r. ISSN 0883-1351.
- ^ Domingo, Laura; Rodríguez-Gómez, Guillermo; Libano, Iñaki; Gómez-Olivencia, Asier (August 2017). "New insights into the Middle Pleistocene paleoecology and paleoenvironment of the Northern Iberian Peninsula (Punta Lucero Quarry site, Biscay): A combined approach using mammalian stable isotope analysis and trophic resource availability modeling". Quaternary Science Reviews. 169: 243–262. Bibcode:2017QSRv..169..243D. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.06.008 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
- ^ Metcalfe, Jessica (2011). Late Pleistocene climate and proboscidean paleoecology in North America: Insights from stable isotope compositions of skeletal remains (PhD thesis). University of Western Ontario.
- ^ Antón 2013, pp. 227–228
- ^ Bocherens, Hervé (June 2015). "Isotopic tracking of large carnivore palaeoecology in the mammoth steppe". Quaternary Science Reviews. 117: 42–71. Bibcode:2015QSRv..117...42B. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.03.018.
- ^ McFarlane, Donald A.; Lundberg, Joyce (April 2013). "On the occurrence of the scimitar-toothed cat, Homotherium latidens (Carnivora; Felidae), at Kents Cavern, England". Journal of Archaeological Science. 40 (4): 1629–1635. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.10.032.
- ^ Ripple, William J.; Van Valkenburgh, Blaire (August 2010). "Linking Top-down Forces to the Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinctions". BioScience. 60 (7): 516–526. doi:10.1525/bio.2010.60.7.7. ISSN 1525-3244.
External links
[edit]- The saber-toothed cat of the North Sea, 2008, accessed 10/28/2019
- American Scimitar Cat
- Saber-toothed cat jaw
- South America gets two more sabercats
- Homotherini
- Pliocene carnivorans
- Pleistocene carnivorans
- Pleistocene extinctions
- Cenozoic mammals of Africa
- Cenozoic mammals of Asia
- Cenozoic mammals of Europe
- Cenozoic mammals of North America
- Holarctic fauna
- Prehistoric carnivoran genera
- Zanclean first appearances
- Fossil taxa described in 1890
- Pleistocene mammals of North America
- Pleistocene mammals of Africa
- Saber-toothed cats