Fossil jaws of hidden saber-toothed tigers found in Guanghe County, Linxia Basin, Gansu. Courtesy of Sun Boyang
Beijing, July 29 (Reporter Sun Zifa) Reporters learned from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Institute of Paleovertebrates of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) that researchers from the Institute of Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with researchers at the Paleontological Research Center of Yuxi Normal University, have found that through the study of new fossil materials of the saber-toothed tiger found in the Linxia Basin, the fossil material is consistent with the hidden saber-toothed tiger distributed in Europe, revealing a key link in the evolution and migration of the saber-toothed tiger genus in the Late Miocene (11.5 million to 5.33 million years ago).
The result of this important research advance in the field of paleontological evolution has recently been published online in the international journal of paleontology, Historical Biology. This is the first report of the hidden saber-toothed tiger in China, which not only fills the gap in the hidden saber-toothed tiger species and even the original type of saber-toothed tiger in China, but also confirms that the Chinese saber-toothed tiger genus is more closely related to the European type than previously thought.
Sun Boyang, corresponding author of the paper and assistant researcher of the Institute of Paleovertebrates of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the new fossil material of the saber-toothed tiger in the Linxia Basin was found in Guanghe County, Gansu Province, which is a section of horizontal branch of the lower jaw with buccal teeth, with obvious original features, including the relatively vertical lateral contour of the mandibular joint, the relatively large size of the lower anterior molars, and the inferior split teeth with a more developed lower heel seat residue, which is consistent with the hidden saber-toothed tiger distributed in Europe.
At the same time, the companion animals of the new fossil material of the saber-toothed tiger in the Linxia Basin, including the giant hyena, the Hezheng noseless horned rhinoceros, the Mohs iranian rhinoceros, the Bushi and the Zheng sheep, are all iconic animals of the Bahe period (11.5 million to 7.25 million years ago) in the early Miocene, and their ages are also consistent with the era of the existence of the hidden saber-toothed tiger in Europe.
Saber-toothed tiger migration from Eurasia to North America. Courtesy of Sun Boyang
Sun Boyang said that in the early Miocene, the hidden saber-toothed tiger migrated to North America through the connected Bering land bridge, and opened the road to the dominance of the saber-toothed tiger in North America. However , East Asia has previously been unable to find taxa at the same level of evolution as the occult saber-toothed tiger , interrupting this path in Asia. "The record of the hidden saber-toothed tiger in the Linxia Basin perfectly fills this gap."
He pointed out that the same time as the migration of saber-toothed tigers to North America was the famous "Three-toed Horse Incident", that is, the first time the three-toed horse moved from North America to Eurasia. "Most interestingly, the first trans-Eurasian-North American migration between the two groups took place at the same time, but in completely opposite directions. What contributed to this historic 'passing by'? This question awaits further in-depth study of these two categories in the academic community. ”
Sun Boyang said that the saber-toothed tiger subfamily is a type of cat with developed dagger-shaped upper canine teeth, which has received keen attention in academia and the public for its fierce and powerful appearance and the ecological status of top predators. Due to the popularity of the movie Ice Age and a series of popular paleontological documentaries, the genus Bladetooth, a member of the saber-toothed tiger that lived in Late Pleistocene North America, is best known. The genus Saber-toothed tiger, which lived in the Miocene, is another typical representative of the saber-toothed tiger subfamily.
The saber-toothed tiger genus generally has a body size comparable to that of modern lions and tigers, and with huge machete-like upper canine teeth with serrated teeth, it is an extremely fierce hunter. Saber-toothed tigers have traveled throughout Eurasia and entered North America in the Late Miocene, and their evolution and migration paths have been the focus of academic discussion. (End)
Source: China News Network