A few days ago, a number of domestic media reported that researchers at Ohio University found an "African giant lion" in Kenya, living in the African grassland 23 million years ago, with a head as large as a rhinoceros, weighing 1.5 tons, larger than a polar bear. What is this "African giant lion"?
Professor Matthew Borths shows fossil mandibles of this prehistoric behemoth
<h1>The "giant lion" is actually a lion hyena and has nothing to do with lions</h1>
When paleontologists Matthew R. Borths and Nancy J. Stevens turned over the fossil mandible that had been lying in obscurity in the Kenya Museum for decades, they realized that the owner of the jaw probably belonged to a large prehistoric hunter and was a species that had never been known.
They published their findings in the North American Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, naming the creature "Simbakubwa kutokaafrika," which means "African giant lion" in Swahili.
Screenshot of Professor Matthew Borths' paper
Reading this paper, we can see that this animal belongs to a group of mammals called hyenas (Hyaenodonta), while living land mammals, including lions, belong to carnivora.
Hyenas are a class of carnivores that have completely extinct, and although its phylogenetic location is not fully understood, scientists are more certain that they are not closely related to carnivores.
Literally, the newly discovered ancient beast is indeed the "African giant lion", but considering that it is a hyena and is far from a lion, we suggest translating this animal as a lion hyena.
Griffin restoration
The lion hyena belongs to the hyena order Hyainailouridae, the genus Simbakubwa. The lions that live in Africa and India belong to the carnivorous order Felidae ( Felidae ) – Panthera.
The lion hyena lived in the Early Miocene, about 23 million years ago, when the ancestors of carnivorous cats, the petite proailurus from Europe, had only recently appeared. Genetic analysis shows that the modern cat family diverged about 11 million years ago, leopards appeared no earlier than 6 million years ago, and real lions are only more than 2 million years old. It can be said that in the era when the lion hyena was in the African storm, the old ancestor of the lion was still hiding in the dense forests of Europe.
Ancestor of the modern cat family: the original cat
The original meaning of the "hyena" to which the lion hyena belongs is "the teeth of the hyena", and from this name, it can also be seen that scientists are helpless when naming these ancient beasts that are not compatible with the eight rods of modern beasts - after all, our old ancestors did not know these magical ancient creatures when they created word groups, so they would not create roots or radicals related to them.
The use of hyenas or lions to name these ancient beasts is vivid and vivid – before hyenas and lions flourished, these ancient beasts played a role similar to hyenas and lions on Earth. But this naming also has obvious drawbacks — it's inevitable that people who don't know much about them will mistake them for real hyenas and lions, confusing the categories of animals.
<h1>How big are the lion hyenas? </h1>
The news said that this prehistoric behemoth weighed 1.5 tons, is it really so big?
From the paper, we can see that the lion hyena is indeed very large, with a jaw alone of 40 centimeters long, longer than the entire skull of a lion.
Modern lion skull (top) and lion hyena jaw (bottom) contrast
Because lion hyenas have only a jaw and incomplete fossil skulls, researchers can only estimate their weight using the skull-weight formula. To reduce the error, the researchers used a total of three formulas to calculate, and the results ranged from 280-1554 kilograms. The largest of these results, 1554 kg, was calculated using the formula of the feline family.
From the restoration chart, we can see that the characteristics of hyenas are that the proportion of the head to the body is particularly large, while the head of the feline is relatively small, so the introduction of the feline formula to push the weight with the skull will undoubtedly greatly exaggerate the result. At the same time, 280 kg is a distinct underestimate.
Modern lion and lion hyena jaw contrast, scale 5 cm
So, how big is the real size of the lion hyena?
The total length of this mandible specimen is about 40 cm, and the total length of the skull is estimated to be 55-60 cm, which is exactly the size of a specimen of its close relative, the Megistotherium osteothlastes. There are already many specimens of the great hyena, and they are relatively complete, and scientists can estimate their weight more accurately. This specimen of the Great Hyena is estimated to weigh about 800 kilograms, so the Lion Hyena is expected to be about the same size.
However, experts have noticed that the fossil specimen's teeth are very lightly worn, they have just been replaced, and they are likely to belong to young individuals. Fully grown lion hyenas may weigh more than 1 ton, and the largest surviving polar bear weighs only about 1 ton, so the lion hyena is likely to be larger than the polar bear.
Since only fossil skulls have been found in the lion hyena, its body and limb morphology can only refer to its close relative, Hyainailouros, and its weight can only be estimated as a preliminary estimate. Among the hyenas, the lion hyena is second only to the great hyena, which is estimated to weigh an average of 900 kilograms and reach a maximum of 1.86 tons.
Comparison of lion hyenas and adult men
In addition to the great hyena, the carnivorous mammals can be compared with the lion hyena, but the narrow-toothed southern short-faced bear (more than 2 tons), the giant short-faced bear (1 ton), the polar bear (1 ton), and the Ann's beast (800-900 kg) are only a few. Modern brown bears in the wild are only 750 kilograms in the wild, while lions and tigers are only about 300 kilograms. The lion hyena is undoubtedly a very large carnivorous mammal.
<h1>The "King of the Beasts" of prehistoric Africa</h1>
The Miocene (23-5.33 million years ago) great hyenas, lion hyenas and giant hyenas were the last hyenas and the largest hyenas, making them among the largest terrestrial carnivores ever made.
The steppes of the Miocene hosted many large herbivores, which were fed by large hyenas and were the only predators of these thick-skinned behemoths. The iguana's massive head and jaws crushed their prey to pieces, and the large hyenas were the undisputed overlords of Africa at that time, like lions today.
Gomphotherium angustidens
Lion hyenas differ from other hyenas, and experts have noticed that their teeth are relatively slender, not as good as giant hyenas for crushing bones, and are more suitable for cutting fresh meat. This means that lion hyenas are more active in hunting, while hyenas are more inclined to clean up carrion. For example, the role of the giant hyena in the ecosystem resembled that of today's hyenas, while the lion hyena was slightly more cat-like. It seems that the name lion hyena is really not a white name.
According to expert estimates, the lion hyena mainly preys on large carboniferous beasts (Anthracotheriidae) and small elephants, and their canine teeth are exposed up to 9 cm long and can easily puncture the thick skin of prey. Their split tooth form is only suitable for handling meat, and they are highly specialized carnivorous animals.
Carboniferous: An extinct ungulate, close relative of hippopotamus
<h1>Hyenas heading for extinction</h1>
During the Eocene period, 53-34 million years ago, hyenas were the most dominant carnivorous mammals on Earth, when their species and numbers peaked and were widely distributed in Africa, Eurasia and North America.
After entering the Oligocene (34-23 million years ago), with the rise of carnivorous orders, the iguanodons of Eurasia and North America gradually disappeared. But in Africa, hyenas are still the main predators.
After entering the Miocene, giant taxa such as the Great Hyena and the Lion Hyena in Africa undoubtedly achieved temporary success, and taxa such as the Giant Hyena even reoccupied a large area of land in southern Eurasia.
These giant hyenas, the powerful but slow-moving rhinoceros and pachyceros, occupy a unique ecological niche, while the carnivores that coexist with them are mostly smaller and prey on smaller prey.
Modern tigers usually hunt only baby elephants and rhinos, and lions rarely besiege adult elephants and rhinos. This niche of hyenas is still largely vacant today, and objectively speaking, this is also a manifestation of the decline of thick-skinned behemoths.
Restoration of the Great Hyena, Roman Uchytel
However, large animals were more susceptible to environmental influences than small ones, and environmental changes accelerated in the late Miocene, and hyenas went into decline.
It is unclear why hyenas were eliminated by carnivores. Some scholars believe that carnivores have more developed brains and are more social, and they are not opponents of lion hyenas when it comes to fighting alone, but they can take away the latter's prey in groups.
Paleontologists speculate that lion hyenas, like their close relatives, are half-toed, and that although this way of walking has improved greatly from the metatarsality of their ancestors, it is still not as completely toe-like as that of contemporaneous carnivores.
Man and bear are plantar, which is a relatively primitive way of walking, when walking, the whole foot touches the ground, which is not conducive to running. Toe-walking is the way cats and canines walk, which makes them run faster and are suitable for hunting prey.
Giant hyenas are half-toed
Like carnivores, hyenas have blade-like split teeth suitable for cutting pieces of meat. However , carnivores have only one pair of split teeth , and grow in a more advanced position , leaving room for chewing after the split teeth. The teeth of early carnivorous orders resembled those of today's canines, and the molars after the split teeth could also handle foods other than meat.
Hyenas often have multiple pairs of teeth differentiated into split teeth, and the position is lower, and there is no room for other foods on the dentition, so they can only eat meat, let alone environmental changes.
As we can see from the image below, the living carnivorous and newly discovered lion hyenas have similarly large canine teeth, but the split teeth are very different, the former has only one upper split tooth, and the latter has two. This structure, which has different origins but has the same function, is undoubtedly a miraculous example of the parallel evolution of organisms.
Comparison of the teeth of the living carnivorous and lion hyenas, dr. Xiong Wuyang
Whatever the reason, the result was that the hyenas went extinct, and the carnivores survived as the kings of a new generation of beasts.
About 8.8 million years ago, the smaller Dissopsalis did not escape extinction, and the hyena completely withdrew from the stage of history. Almost at the same time, primitive true cats began to emerge, of which the ancestors of lions were one of them.
<h1>The true prehistoric giant lion once dominated five continents</h1>
More than 10 million years after the extinction of the fake "prehistoric giant lion" lion hyena, the real "prehistoric giant lion" began to shine in the same land.
The lion is the last species of leopard cat to diverge, and the rise and fall of lions coincides with the extremely cold Pleistocene (2,588,800-11,700 years ago).
In the late Pleistocene, the Panthera leo spelaea dominated Europe, North Asia, and Alaska. l. atrox) dominates North America, and the ancestors of modern African lions dominate in Africa, West Asia and India, and even lion fossils have been found in South America.
Restoration of the lion, Roman Uchytel
If you ask the largest modern cat, most people will tell you that it is a Siberian tiger, but others will object, because the measured weight of the South African lion in the wild is not inferior to that of the Siberian tiger.
But if you talk about the largest cat ever, there is only one answer, and that is lions. Cave lions, lion-like and prehistoric African lions all have male skulls averaging more than 40 centimeters in length, which is larger than the largest Siberian tiger. Experts estimate that these prehistoric lion males weighed an average of 270 kg, with the largest being 350-400 kg.
Cave Lion Restoration, Roman Uchytel
The Sand Lion (P. Thompson) found in northwestern Kenya l. shawi), who lived 200,000 years ago, with a skull of 45-46 cm in total length and an estimated weight of 350 kg, is the real "Kenyan prehistoric giant lion".
The real "Giant Lion of Kenya": the fossil skull of the Shah lion
Lions are undoubtedly the most successful big cats in evolution, and before that a single species ruled the five continents, and only we humans have done it since.
There were large carnivores that could rival lions in local areas, but from a worldwide perspective, lions were the kings of that era.
Cave lions attack the woolly rhinoceros
In addition to Antarctica, Australia and other long-separated continents, the only land that lions have not set foot in is the forests of East Asia, Central and West Africa, North America and East South America, and the forests of East Asia have bred another top big cat, the tiger. The fact that lions did not adapt to the forest has not been overcome to this day.
At this time, the lion, like the lion hyena of the year, has gone to large and specialized carnivorous. Later cats with canine teeth and split teeth were highly developed, and the molars were degenerate, and they could not handle any other food except fresh meat.
11,700 years ago, the end of the ice age, the expansion of forests, the degradation of grasslands, and the sharp decline in the number of large ungulates, the large lions in the north went extinct. Only modern lions still survive in Africa and West Asia, but they are nowhere near as large as their predecessors.
Comparison of pseudo-lions (posterior) and modern African lions (pre)
At that time, Homo sapiens had gone out of Africa to complete the conquest of the world, and the highly intelligent, united and cooperative human beings would make their situation worse whether they hunted the lion's prey or directly killed the lion.
Along with the cave lion and the pseudo-lion, there are also large carnivores such as short-faced bears and blade-toothed tigers, as well as thick-skinned giant beasts such as mammoths and woolly rhinoceros. With the end of the Ice Age, the era of human domination of the Earth has arrived.
Large-scale and specialized carnivores once brought a brief boom to lion hyenas and prehistoric lions, eventually pushing them to extinction, which is the law of biological evolution.