A 35,000-Year-Old Saber-Toothed Kitten Was Extracted From Siberia’s Permafrost
If you’re a fan of the “Ice Age” movies, you would be fascinated by the mummified remains of a newborn saber-toothed cat that researchers have recently extracted from Siberia’s permafrost.
The cat’s remains include its well-preserved head, whiskers, forelimbs, claws, and part of its chest. Its frozen body was found in Yakutia, Russia, in 2020.
A new analysis of the kitten showed that it was just three weeks old when it died at least 35,000 years ago. Scientists also discovered pelvic bones, shin bones, and a femur encased in the ice alongside the kitten. Currently, it is unclear how the animal died.
It is extremely rare to find well-preserved remains of saber-toothed cats. The young cub belonged to the species Homotherium latidens.
Saber-toothed cats of this extinct genus lived in North America and Europe during the Pliocene (5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago) and the early Pleistocene (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago).
Evidence indicates that the cats began to decline toward the end of the Pleistocene, which is also known as the last ice age.
“For a long time, the latest presence of Homotherium in Eurasia was recorded in the Middle Pleistocene,” wrote the researchers in the study.
“The discovery of H. latidens mummy in Yakutia radically expands the understanding of the distribution of the genus and confirms its presence in the Late Pleistocene of Asia.”
The small cat mummy shows that H. latidens was well-adapted to ice age conditions. The cub has small ears, a long neck, dark brown fur, and a large mouth opening. Its eyelashes were not preserved.
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The researchers compared the frozen carcass to the remains of a modern lion cub of the same age and found that the saber-toothed kitten had wider paws and a lack of carpal pads. These pads are usually located on the wrist joints of today’s felines.
Such features helped saber-toothed cats walk through snow more easily, while their thick, soft fur protected them from the cold.
Compared to the modern lion cub, the saber-toothed kitten had a mouth that was approximately 11 to 19 percent larger, smaller ears that were higher up on the skull, and a longer neck that was twice as thick. The new research reveals that these characteristics were already present by three weeks of age.
Radiocarbon dating of the kitten’s fur suggested that it had been buried in the permafrost for at least 35,000 years, possibly even 37,000 years. The discovery marks the first time that remains of this kind have been studied and described.
“The study of the mummy made it possible for the first time to observe its fur, the shape of the muzzle, the shape and position of the auricle, the morphology of the mouth opening and nasal planum, the shape of the front paw, and the features of the muscle distribution,” said Alexey V. Lopatin, one of the study authors.
The details of the findings were published in Scientific Reports.
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