Immaculately Preserved Saber-Tooth Cat Cub Found in Siberian Permafrost

Six years ago, scientists discovered a remarkably preserved cave lion cub successful Siberia’s permafrost. Despite 28,000 years since its death, the cub remained successful near-perfect information by the frozen soil. Now, a antithetic squad of researchers has described a likewise preserved saber-tooth feline cub, giving america a portal into the Pleistocene Epoch.

The saber-tooth cat, unearthed successful 2020, is lone present being scientifically described. The mummy includes the animal’s full caput and 1 forelimb, its shoulders and ribcage, and 1 of its hind legs. The squad focused its probe connected the mummy’s caput and dental features to find the taxon of saber-tooth cat, and amended recognize the species’ geographic organisation and its unsocial morphology. The team’s findings were published this week successful the Nature diary Scientific Reports.

“The studied frozen mummified cub confirms the modern reconstructions of the beingness quality of Homotherium, made from the bony remains of big individuals,” said Alexey Lopatin, a paleontologist astatine the Borissiak Paleotological Institute successful Russia and pb writer of the paper, successful an email to Gizmodo. “It besides complements the outer features—the fur color, the muzzle size, receptor size, the signifier of the ft pads, etc. These characters cannot beryllium seen connected skeleton remains.”

Radiocarbon dating of the specimen yielded an property of astir 31,800 years, making it respective 1000 years older than the lion cub found successful 2018. In different words, erstwhile the oldest cave paintings astatine Lascaux were being drawn by humans, the saber-tooth cub had already been dormant for astir 15,000 years. The probe squad utilized a three-week-old lion cub carcass for comparative investigation of the much past cat, and CT-scanned the mummy to uncover its skeletal operation non-invasively.

Left: A photograph of the mummy Right: a scan revealing its skeleton. Image: Lopatin et al., Scientific Reports 2024

The researchers identified the saber-tooth feline as a Homotherium latidens specimen. Homotherium, also known as the scimitar-tooth cat, was a saber-tooth predator built for long-distance running. Homotherium had shorter incisors than different saber-tooths similar Smilodon, and was leaner too—even leaner than modern lions (Panthera leo). The recognition of the cub’s taxon confirms that Homotherium was contiguous successful Asia successful the Late Pleistocene, the researchers wrote successful the study.

“Thus, for the archetypal clip successful the past of paleontological research, the outer quality of an extinct mammal that has nary analogues successful the modern fauna has been studied directly,” the squad wrote.

The mummy’s skull was somewhat deformed, but its well-preserved close broadside allowed the squad to reconstruct its shape. Furthermore, the squad noted that the saber-tooth cat’s cervix is much than doubly arsenic heavy arsenic that of the lion cub. The cub is an indicator of however big Homotheriums—distinguishable by their abbreviated bodies and comparatively agelong legs—take shape.

Besides the comparative investigation and the superlative property of the specimen, the saber-tooth mummy whitethorn output yet much insights into the past past.

“The muscles, bones and tegument are good preserved successful the permafrost ice,” Lopatin said. “DNA tin beryllium extracted, and this is 1 of the adjacent stages of our research.”

Pulling familial accusation from specimens preserved by permafrost is successful vogue, and for bully reason. The unsocial preservation conditions mean that familial worldly tin enactment intact for tens of thousands of years. In 2022, a squad of researchers recovered a wonderfully preserved baby woolly mammoth successful a Yukon golden mine, and earlier this twelvemonth a squad managed to decipher immoderate of mammoth’s genomic architecture utilizing chromosomes preserved successful permafrost for a staggering 52,000 years—back erstwhile Neanderthals inactive roamed our planet.

Lopatin added that “some caller unsocial mummified specimens person already been recovered successful Yakutia,” wherever the cave lion and saber bony feline cubs were found. No substance the specimen, you tin remainder assured that those mummies volition beryllium capable to instrumentality your enactment away.