Paleontologists have unearthed the 5.2-million-year-old fossilized remains of four sabertooth cat species — including two previously unknown species, name Lokotunjailurus chinsamyae and Dinofelis werdelini — at Langebaanweg ‘E’ Quarry in South Africa. Their results suggest that the distribution of sabertooths throughout ancient Africa might have been different than previously assumed.
“The known material of sabertooths from Langebaanweg was relatively poor, and the importance of these sabertooth cats has not been properly recognized,” said Complutense University paleontologist Alberto Valenciano.
“Our phylogenetic analysis is the first one to take Langebaanweg species into consideration.”
Dinofelis sabertooths are globally distributed, and their fossils have been found in Africa, China, Europe, and North America.
Dr. Valenciano and his colleagues were expecting to identify a new Dinofelis species from Langebaanweg based on prior research.
However, Lokotunjailurus sabertooths have only ever been identified in Kenya and Chad before this new study.
This suggests that they may have been distributed all throughout Africa between 5-7 million years ago.
To construct a family tree, the authors classified the physical traits of each sabertooth species — such as presence or absence of teeth, jaw and skull shape, and tooth structure — and coded this information into a matrix that could determine how closely related each sabertooth was to its evolutionary cousins.
The resulting population composition of Langebaanweg sabertooths (Machairodontini, Metailurini, and Feline) reflects the increasing global temperatures and environmental changes of the Pliocene epoch.
For instance, the presence of Machairodontini cats, which are larger in size and more adapted to running at high speeds, suggests that there were open grassland environments at Langebaanweg.
However, the presence of the Metailurini cats suggests that there were also more covered environments,…
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