Homotherium kitten mummy from Siberia (free pdf)

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Ben Creisler

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Nov 14, 2024, 3:16:27 PMNov 14
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Ben Creisler

A new non-dino paper of interest:

Free pdf:

A. V. Lopatin, M. V. Sotnikova, A. I. Klimovsky, A. V. Lavrov, A. V. Protopopov, D. O. Gimranov & E. V. Parkhomchuk (2024)
Mummy of a juvenile sabre-toothed cat Homotherium latidens from the Upper Pleistocene of Siberia
Scientific Reports 14: 28016
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-79546-1
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-79546-1

Free pdf:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-79546-1.pdf


The frozen mummy of the large felid cub was found in the Upper Pleistocene permafrost on the Badyarikha River (Indigirka River basin) in the northeast of Yakutia, Russia. 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. Tomographic analysis of the mummy skull revealed the features characteristic of Machairodontinae and of the genus Homotherium. For the first time in the history of paleontology, the appearance of an extinct mammal that has no analogues in the modern fauna has been studied.

From text:
"The upper lip height in the mummy (7 mm) exceeds that of the lion cub more than twice (in ZMMU S-210286, this height is 3.1) The upper lip height of the mummy was estimated by the distance from the junction of the soft tissues with the maxilla to the ventral lip edge. Obviously, this difference is due to the further ontogenetic development of the long upper canine and the need to cover it with an upper lip."

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Waiting for news stories on this...

mkir...@gmail.com

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Nov 18, 2024, 4:00:18 PMNov 18
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It sure is cute!  There is a NYT article today on the find at:  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/18/science/saber-tooth-cat-mummy-siberia.html
or:  https://archive.is/uEzNQ

A Mummified Saber-Toothed Kitten Emerges in Siberia
by Asher Elbein, Nov. 18, 2024, 10:16 a.m. ET

"...the kitten had no carpal pads on its wrists..."  The dark brown fur had no spots, but this may be the result of how it was preserved in the permafrost.  

"While the kitten was too young for its elongated fangs to have formed, Dr. Lopatin said, the height of the upper lip is more than twice as long as that of a modern lion cub. This could support the claim that the sabers of the adult Homotherium were sheathed."

Ben Creisler

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Nov 19, 2024, 10:49:18 PM (14 days ago) Nov 19
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Some additional news and video material:

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Videos:

Homotherium: stunning frozen mummy and more with Prof Steve Wroe.
RealPaleontology
16 min.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWgoDQ1WA34

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Sabre-Toothed Cat Mummy Found Frozen in Ice
7 Days of Science
11 min.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Asl5qSPrNN8

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