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It’s simply amazing that in this day and age, archaeologists are still making new discoveries! But due to their dedication to uncovering the mysteries of the past, we can all experience these firsts together. And in November 2024, scientists shared their findings from 2020 with the world. Amazingly, they had finally come across the frozen mummified body of a saber-tooth cat; the first of it’s kind!

Findings of frozen mummified remains of the Late Pleistocene mammals are very rare. For the first time in the history of paleontology, the appearance of an extinct mammal that has no analogues (a person or thing seen as comparable to another) in the modern fauna has been studied.

Scientists uncover a mummified saber-toothed cub in Siberia. CREDIT Vera Salnitskaya-Siberian Times

Stumbling Across the Mummified Cat

It was in the frigid Russian permafrost that the rare find was unearthed. And they weren’t even looking for it! In the Northeast of Yakutia, Russia, a team was out searching for mammoth tusks; a rare find in itself. But this was the type of once-in-a-lifetime find for them. Because while there have been plenty of bones discovered, this was the first mummified feline found. And at it’s young age, even more unknown questions were answered about the elusive species. 

Due to the mummies shocking preservation, the cub was even found with it’s fur. Scientists radiocarbon dated the specimen and revealed it was from approximately 35,000 years old! 

The study of the specimen appearance showed its significant differences from a modern lion cub of similar age (three weeks) in the unusual shape of the muzzle with a large mouth opening and small ears, the very massive neck region, the elongated forelimbs, and the dark coat color.

https://www.nature.com/

The mummy body is covered with short, thick, soft, dark brown fur with hair about 20–30 mm long. The fur on the back and neck is longer than on the legs. On the upper lip two rows of vibrissae are clearly visible, mostly broken off at a height of 3–5 mm from the roots. In the region of the mouth corner, the hair is significantly elongated

https://www.nature.com/

The Badyarikha mummy (specimen DMF AS RS, no. Met-20-1) contains the head and the anterior part of the body preserved approximately to the caudal edge of the chest (Fig. 1). There are also incomplete pelvic bones articulated with the femur and shin bones. They were found encased in a piece of ice along with the front part of the cub corpse. The specimen is stored at DMF AS RS in Yakutsk.

https://www.nature.com/

Something I Never Knew I Needed to See 

Saber-tooth mummified cub paws. Specifically their little toe beans. Any cat owner and/or lover knows what I’m talking about. Kitty cat paws are one of those instant ‘awwww’ moments. And now we know what 35,000 year old cub beans look like AND that it IS the official scientific name!!!

The foot pads and claws are preserved on the plantar surface of the front paw of the Homotherium cub mummy. The absence of a carpal pad is established for the mummy front paw. The digital pads of the first and fifth digits of the mummy have the shape of a right triangle. The long side of the fifth digital pad is adjacent to the fourth digital pad. The shape of the second–fourth digital pads is subsquare, in contrast to the oval digital pads of the lion and other Felidae. The metacarpal pad is bilobed and bean-shaped. (<= told you!)

https://www.nature.com

The front paw of the juvenile Homotherium latidens has a rounded shape. Its width is almost equal to its length, in contrast to lion cubs with their elongated and relatively narrow front paw (Fig. 7). The wide paw, the subsquare shape of its pads, and the absence of a carpal pad are adaptations to walking in snow and low temperatures. The small, low auricles and absence of the carpal pad in Badyarikha Homotherium contrast with the taller auricles and normally developed pads in the lion cub. All these features can be interpreted as adaptations to living in cold climate.

Their Furtastic Conclusion from the Mummified Cub

The study of the mummy of the Homotherium latidens cub made it possible for the first time to observe its fur, the shape of its muzzle, the shape and position of the auricle, the morphology of the mouth opening and nasal planum. The shape of the front paw of this predator was studied, and the features of the distribution of its muscle mass were established, also for the first time. New information about the juvenile stages of development of the skull and limbs makes it possible to establish the peculiarities of the early postnatal ontogenesis of Homotherium. Also, the discovery of H. latidens mummy in Yakutia radically expands the understanding of distribution of the genus and confirms its presence in the Late Pleistocene of Asia.

Read the entire publication here. 

 

 

 

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