A group of researchers carried out an interdisciplinary study that identified and described two new species of saber-toothed tigers — Lokotunjailurus chinsamyae It is Dinofelis werdelini.
This was based on fossils found in the Langebaanweg region, in Africa from the South, dating from the Pliocene period.
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The findings shed light on the evolution of these extinct predators and were published in the scientific journal iScience. Saber-toothed cats were prehistoric felines famous for their long, curved tusks, living between 2.5 million and 10,000 years ago.
Unlike lions and tigers, the felines discovered were probably not social animals. Their disappearance coincided with the mass extinction of megafauna at the end of the Pleistocene period.
Such species of cats, belonging to the genera Dinofelis It is Lokotunjailurus, were revealed in various parts of the world, but those of the
Lokotunjailurus were previously unknown in the region of Chad and Kenya prior to this study.(Illustrative image of a saber-toothed skull: Reproduction/Internet)
The importance of the geological age of this fossil
The Miocene-Pliocene period, which spanned approximately 23 to 2.6 million years ago, was marked by climate change, including global cooling and the development of grasslands.
We also saw the emergence of the first hominids in the fossil record and significant transformations in flora and fauna, influencing the environment and evolution of the Earth.
Paleontologist Alberto Valenciano, from the Complutense University, used fossils from the Iziko Museum as the basis for his research.
His team examined several physical characteristics of the fossils, such as the presence of teeth, the tooth structure and the shape of the skulls and jaws.
The collected data were organized in a matrix that allowed the creation of a family tree, revealing the relationships between the different species found on Langebaanweg, which inhabited grassland and forest environments around 5.2 million years ago back.
The researchers suggested that increased aridity in the Pliocene period, which resulted in more open areas, may have led to the evolution of bipedalism in hominids.
These environmental changes also influenced the diet and behavior of early humans, leading to fundamental changes.
This includes, for example, eating meat, hunting in open areas, developing tools, and forming complex societies for protection.
However, more research is needed to fully understand such aspects of hominid evolution.
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