A mummified saber-toothed cub was discovered in 2020 in eastern Russia, where the temperature drops as low as -134F.
On Thursday, details regarding the frozen mummified cub were revealed in a study published in the journal Scientific Reports. According to scientists, the partial corpse was covered with fur and mummified flesh. Aside from the face, the torso and forelimbs were also nearly intact.
The cub had thick, dark brown fur that measured between 0.8 and 1.2 inches long and was surprisingly soft despite being at least 35,000 years old, according to radiocarbon dating. This means the animal lived during the Pleistocene Epoch, a time period where large glaciers and ice sheets covered the earth.
Alexey V. Lopatin, the lead author of the study, recalled the ‘fantastic feeling’ of being able to see a long-extinct animal ‘with your own eyes’.
The saber-tooth cat, a member of the Homotherium latidens species, are known for their long canines, which can grow up to 20 centimeters long. They are distant relatives of modern big cats and went extinct between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago. Experts say these animals could grow up to 6.5 feet long and 3 feet tall, weighing at nearly 450 pounds.
According to scientists, the mummy, which included the young cat’s head, torso, front arms, and paws, were encased in a large block of ice. Pieces of pelvic, shin, and femur bones were also found in the surrounding area
In fact, the cub’s body was preserved so well that it allowed scientists to study its appearance – something that has never happened before for an extinct mammal.
Aside from its short, thick fur, the cub also had square-shaped paw pads, which likely allowed it to travel through cold temperatures and snow.
The mummified body was found by a group of Yakitian diggers in 2020 while they were searching for mammoth tusks near the Badyarikha River in Yakutia.
While fossilized bones were previously found in Canada and the Netherlands, this is the first mummy discovered of the Homotherium latidens saber-toothed cat species. Other frozen ice age mummies, such as those of mammoths and woolly rhinos, have been found in the Siberian region of Yakutia, or the Republic of Sakha.
In contrast, mummified cats are ‘extremely rare’, according to Lopatin. Prior to this discovery, there have only been two other cat mummies found, both of which were Panthera spelaea cubs, a species of cave lions.
Lopatin said he and his team will now be working on extracting genetic material from the mummy, which will allow them to better understand the species. They will also be conducting thorough examinations of the mummified cub’s muscles, hair, and skeleton.
Jack Tseng, a paleontologist who specializes in the anatomy of extinct mammals, was understandably shocked when he found out about the discovery as it could lead to ‘a treasure trove o3f information’.
“Approximately 3 Weeks Old”
Scientists analyzed the size of the mummified cub’s canines and estimated that the cat was approximately 3 weeks old when it died.
Compared to modern lion cubs of the same age, however, the mummified saber-tooth cub had a much darker coat; his ears were also significantly smaller, while its mouth and neck were much larger in size.
Until now, scientists were only able to hypothesize about the anatomy of these extinct cats. Now that they are able to see one ‘in the flesh’, they are able to learn much more about the animals.
