- #1
Andre
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Were does a thread go on extinct animals? It's not 'bio' anymore. So perhaps the Earth files.
The first of December a new 28000 words book is being launched in The Netherlands, title: The Homotherium, Saber-toothed Cat. It's Dutch of course, but it's already translated. A short fragment:
But it was a saber-toothed cat, Homotherium latidens to be exact, carbon dated around 28300 years. Unheard of, since the youngest Homotherium fossil in Europe is about 300,000 years old. This was the direct incentive to write that book.
So what do you want to know about this subfamily Machairodontina of the Felidae family?
The first of December a new 28000 words book is being launched in The Netherlands, title: The Homotherium, Saber-toothed Cat. It's Dutch of course, but it's already translated. A short fragment:
Then his professional attention becomes focused on an unusual fossil in the crate. A lower jaw of a predator. Some molars are still present. The large canine has been lost, but the socket where it has been rooted, is still present as a large hole at the front of the jaw. The jaw bone is of a feline type, characterized by the low number of molars. His first impression is that the jaw is too small for a lion, another feline predator with only three molars in each lower jaw. Fossil remains of extinct cave lions are not uncommon between the collected fossils from the North Sea; hence this predator must have been a successful predator of the Pleistocene Mammoth steppe.
But this jawbone in the hand of K is most definitely not a cave lion. It must be another predator. The general morphology, the shape of the jaw is quite different than what he usually encounters from the North Sea fauna. A saber-toothed cat? No, that can’t be, those are very rare, there is only one Saber-toothed fossil in the Netherlands. Saber-toothed remains are usually one to two million years old and heavily mineralized, petrified. If you tap on those with a heavy object, you hear a high pitched tone. K is rather familiar with those remains. This particular jaw is barely petrified. ...
But it was a saber-toothed cat, Homotherium latidens to be exact, carbon dated around 28300 years. Unheard of, since the youngest Homotherium fossil in Europe is about 300,000 years old. This was the direct incentive to write that book.
So what do you want to know about this subfamily Machairodontina of the Felidae family?
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