Megantereon

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Megantereon
Temporal range: Late Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene, 3.6–0.40  Ma
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Megantereon cultridens skeleton.jpg
M. cultridens skeleton
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily:† Machairodontinae
Tribe:† Smilodontini
Genus:† Megantereon
Croizet & Jobert, 1828
Type species
Megantereon cultridens
(Cuvier, 1824)
Other species
  • †M. adroveriPons Moya, 1987
  • †M. ekidoitWerdelin & Lewis, 2000
  • †M. falconeriPomel, 1853
  • †M. hesperusGazin, 1933
  • †M. microtaZhu et al., 2015
  • †M. vakshensisSharapov, 1986
  • †M. whiteiBroom, 1937
  • †M. praecoxPilgrim, 1932
Synonyms [1]

M. cultridens

  • M. megantereonCroizet & Jobert, 1828
  • Felis megantereonBravard, 1828
  • M. macroscelisPomel, 1853

M. falconeri

  • M. nihowanensisTielhard de Chardin & Piveteau, 1930
  • M. inexpectatusTielhard de Chardin, 1939
  • M. lantianensisHu & Qi, 1978

M. whitei

  • M. gracileBroom, 1948
  • M. eurynodonEwer, 1955

Megantereon is an extinct genus of prehistoric machairodontine saber-toothed cat that lived in North America, Eurasia, and Africa from the late Pliocene (or possibly the late Miocene) to the Middle Pleistocene. It is a member of the tribe Smilodontini, and closely related to and possibly the ancestor of the famous American sabertooth Smilodon . In comparison to Smilodon it was somewhat smaller, around the size of a jaguar, though it is thought to have had a similar hunting strategy as an ambush predator.

Contents

Taxonomy and evolution

The true number of species of Megantereon is controversial, with the number of valid species differing between authors. Historically some authors argued that there was just one species. M. cultridens, but all recent authors agree that there were at least two species. [2]

The true number of species may be less than the full list of described species reproduced below: [3]

In 2022, it was proposed, alongside a description of more material, that more Asian species than just M. falconeri: M. nihowanensis, M. inexpectatus (syn. M. lantianensis), and M. megantereon (syn. M. microta) existed. The authors disregarded M. falconeri, however, because of the poor record for that species, and also noted that two specimens – a skull in the Natural History Museum of London and a skull in a museum in Dublin – likely represented a new species (which had been previously noted by other authors). [6] [7]

Fossil fragments have been found in Africa, Eurasia and North America. [8] The oldest confirmed samples of Megantereon are known from the Pliocene of North America and are dated to about 4.5 million years. Samples from Africa are dated to about 3–3.5 million years (for example, in Kenya [9] ). In Europe, the oldest remains are known from Les Etouaries (France), a site which is now dated to 2.78 million years ago. [10] A North American origin of Megantereon has therefore been suggested. However, recent fragmentary fossils found in Kenya and Chad, which date to about 5.7 and 7 million years, are probably from Megantereon. If these identifications are correct, they would represent the oldest Megantereon fossils in the world. The new findings therefore indicate an origin of Megantereon in the Late Miocene of Africa. [11] Remains from the Siwalik Hills in the northern Indian subcontinent dating to the Early Pleistocene, which are among the largest in the genus, have been attributed to the species M. falconeri. [2]

The youngest remains of the genus in Europe date to around 1 million years ago, becoming extinct in the region during the mid-Pleistocene transition possibly to climatic change, which made the region more arid and increased open grassland habitat at the expense of forest. [12] The youngest remains in East Asia (which are the youngest records of the genus globally) date to at latest 400,000 years ago. [7]

Description

Model Megantereon model.jpg
Model

Species of Megantereon were comparable in size to living jaguars. [2] Megantereon was built like a large modern jaguar, but somewhat heavier. It had stocky forelimbs, the lower half being lion-sized. It had large neck muscles designed to deliver a powerful shearing bite. The elongated upper canines were protected by flanges at the mandible. Mauricio Anton's reconstruction in The Big Cats and their Fossil Relatives depicts the full specimen found at Seneze in France at 72 centimetres (28 in) at the shoulder. The largest specimens, with an estimated body weight of 150–250 kilograms (330–550 lb) (average 120 kilograms (260 lb)), are known from India. Medium-sized species of Megantereon are known from other parts of Eurasia and the Pliocene of North America. The smallest species from Africa and the lower Pleistocene of Europe have been estimated at only 60–70 kilograms (130–150 lb). [13] However, these estimations were obtained from comparisons of the carnassial teeth. Younger estimations, which are based on the postcranial skeleton, suggest body weights of about 100 kilograms (220 lb) for the smaller specimens. [14] More recent sources agree with this and estimate Megantereon from the European lower Pleistocene at 200–300 kilograms (440–660 lb). [15]

Palaeobiology

Megantereon is thought to have been an ambush predator. [16] It is now generally thought that Megantereon, like other dirk-toothed saber-toothed cats, used its long saber teeth to deliver a killing throat bite, severing most of the major nerves and blood vessels. While the teeth would still risk damage, the prey animal would be killed quickly enough that any struggling would be feeble at best. [17]

Teeth and jaw Megantereon megantereon 7.JPG
Teeth and jaw

Whether and to what extent Megantereon would have been scansorial and therefore able to climb trees is debated. Arguments in favor rest upon comparisons to modern leopards, and their avoidance of larger predators by the caching of kills in trees. For Megantereon, likely competitors would have included the fellow machairodont Homotherium and the hyena Pachycrocuta . Megantereon also had relatively small carnassial teeth, indicating that once making a kill, it would have eaten its prey at a leisurely pace, either hidden deep in bushes or in a tree away from potential rivals. This indicates a similarity to modern leopards and their lifestyle in that it was probably solitary. [18] Other experts dispute that Megantereon would have been unable to climb proficiently due to its heavy build, and argue that its relatively small claws, stocky limbs and short tail argue against regular climbing. [19] In this case Megantereon would have been unlike the earlier Promegantereon (thought to be its ancestor), but similar to the later Smilodon, which is believed to have spent its time on the ground. [18]

Isotopic analysis of Megantereon whitei from the Venta Micena locality in southeast Spain dating to the Early Pleistocene, around 1.6 million years ago, suggests that at this locality Megantereon hunted large ungulates, including the equine Equus altidens , the muskox-relative Soergelia , and the giant deer Praemegaceros with the prey likely being ambushed from areas on the boundary between forest and savannah. [20]

In Dmanisi, Georgia, evidence also exists that Megantereon interacted with hominids from a Homo erectus skull. The skull, designated D2280, indicates wounds to the occipital matching the dimensions of the sabre-teeth of Megantereon. From the position of the bite marks, it can be inferred that the hominid was attacked from the front and top of the skull, and that the bite was likely placed by a cat which saw the hominid as a threat. Other machairodont bites have been found on rival predators, including other machairodonts, in past fossil discoveries, the wounds indicating aggressive behavior towards potential competition. The hominid likely managed to escape the Megantereon, as no evidence points to predation or scavenging, although the resulting wounds were fatal. [21] Further evidence of Megantereon being a hunter of hominids exists as carbon isotope ratios in teeth at Swartkrans. When compared with its fellow machairodont, Dinofelis , which shared the same environment, it was discovered that Megantereon was more likely to prey on hominids than Dinofelis, which preferred to hunt grazing animals, based on carbon isotope ratios of its own teeth. [22] [23]

Kills made by Megantereon were an important source of carrion in its ecosystem, with the felid's leftovers frequently being scavenged by both hominins and hyaenids. The abundance of carcasses generated by Megantereon has been proposed as a facilitator of early hominin expansion out of Africa. [14]

Related Research Articles

<i>Machairodus</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Machairodus is a genus of large machairodont or ''saber-toothed cat'' that lived in Africa, Eurasia and North America during the late Miocene. It is the animal from which the subfamily Machairodontinae gets its name and has since become a wastebasket taxon over the years as many genera of sabertooth cat have been and are still occasionally lumped into it.

<i>Dinofelis</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Dinofelis is an extinct genus of machairodontine, usually classified in the tribe Metailurini. It was widespread in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America from 5 million to about 1.2 million years ago. Fossils very similar to Dinofelis from Lothagam range back to around 8 million years ago, in the Late Miocene.

<i>Smilodon</i> Extinct genus of saber-toothed cat

Smilodon is an extinct genus of felids. It is one of the best known saber-toothed predators and prehistoric mammals. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats, belonging to the extinct subfamily Machairodontinae, with an estimated date of divergence from the ancestor of living cats around 20 million years ago. Smilodon was one of the last surviving machairodonts alongside Homotherium. Smilodon lived in the Americas during the Pleistocene epoch. The genus was named in 1842 based on fossils from Brazil; the generic name means "scalpel" or "two-edged knife" combined with "tooth". Three species are recognized today: S. gracilis, S. fatalis, and S. populator. The two latter species were probably descended from S. gracilis, which itself probably evolved from Megantereon. The hundreds of specimens obtained from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles constitute the largest collection of Smilodon fossils.

<i>Homotherium</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Homotherium is an extinct genus of scimitar-toothed cat belonging to the extinct subfamily Machairodontinae that inhabited North America, Eurasia, and Africa during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs from around 4 million to 12,000 years ago. It was one of the last surviving members of the subfamily alongside the more famous sabertooth Smilodon, to which it was not particularly closely related. It was a large cat, comparable in size to a lion, functioning as an apex predator in the ecosystems it inhabited. In comparison to Smilodon, the canines of Homotherium were shorter, and it is suggested to have had a different ecology from Smilodon as a pursuit predator adapted to running down large prey in open habitats, with Homotherium also proposed to have likely engaged in cooperative hunting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saber-toothed predator</span> Group of extinct animals

A saber-tooth is any member of various extinct groups of predatory therapsids, predominantly carnivoran mammals, that are characterized by long, curved saber-shaped canine teeth which protruded from the mouth when closed. Saber-toothed mammals have been found almost worldwide from the Eocene epoch to the end of the Pleistocene epoch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Machairodontinae</span> Extinct subfamily of carnivores

Machairodontinae is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the family Felidae. They were found in Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Europe, with the earliest species known from the Middle Miocene, with the last surviving species becoming extinct around Late Pleistocene-Holocene transition.

Metailurini is an extinct taxonomic tribe of large saber-toothed cats that lived in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America from the Miocene to the Pleistocene.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smilodontini</span> Extinct tribe of carnivores

Smilodontini is an extinct tribe within the Machairodontinae or "saber-toothed cat" subfamily of the Felidae. The tribe is also known as the "dirk-toothed cats". They were endemic to South America, North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa during the Miocene to Pleistocene, from 10.3 mya—11,000 years ago, existing for approximately 10.3 million years.

Paramachaerodus is an extinct genus of saber-tooth cat of the subfamily Machairodontinae, which was endemic to Eurasia during the Middle and Late Miocene from 15 to 9 Ma. A 2022 phylogenetic analysis suggested that the genus may be polyphyletic.

<i>Xenosmilus</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Xenosmilus is an extinct genus of homotherin machairodontine that was discovered in Florida in 2001. It has one species, Xenosmilus hodsonae.

<i>Thylacosmilus</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Thylacosmilus is an extinct genus of saber-toothed metatherian mammals that inhabited South America from the Late Miocene to Pliocene epochs. Though Thylacosmilus looks similar to the "saber-toothed cats", it was not a felid, like the well-known North American Smilodon, but a sparassodont, a group closely related to marsupials, and only superficially resembled other saber-toothed mammals due to convergent evolution. A 2005 study found that the bite forces of Thylacosmilus and Smilodon were low, which indicates the killing-techniques of saber-toothed animals differed from those of extant species. Remains of Thylacosmilus have been found primarily in Catamarca, Entre Ríos, and La Pampa Provinces in northern Argentina.

<i>Adelphailurus</i> Extinct genus of felid

Adelphailurus is an extinct genus of metailurin machairodontine (saber-toothed) cat that inhabited western North America during the middle Pliocene. It is monotypic, containing only the species Adelphailurus kansensis.

<i>Lokotunjailurus</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Lokotunjailurus is an extinct genus of saber-toothed cats (Machairodontinae) which existed during the late Miocene and earliest Pliocene epoch and is known from localities in northern, central, eastern and southern Africa. A big cat, it was more slender than comparable recent species and its build suggests cursoriality. It is grouped among a group of similar-looking saber-toothed cats known as the scimitar-tooths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homotherini</span> Extinct tribe of carnivores

Homotherini (Machairodontini) is a tribe of saber-toothed cats of the family Felidae. The tribe is commonly known as scimitar-toothed cats. These saber-toothed cats were endemic to North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America from the Miocene to Pleistocene living from c. 23 Ma until c. 12,000 years ago. The evolutionary relationship between the tribes Homotherini and Machairodontini cause paleontologists to classify Homotherini either as a subtribe of Machairodontini, or the same tribe often using either name interchangeably.

<i>Rhizosmilodon</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Rhizosmilodon is an extinct genus of saber-tooth cat of the subfamily Machairodontinae that lived during the Early Pliocene and was discovered in the U.S. state of Florida. Comparable in size to a medium-sized modern jaguar at about 165 lb. in weight, fossils of Rhizosmilodon are known only from Florida. The best specimens for this species are its lower jaw, a single skull, and teeth, which carry intermediate characteristics between advanced forms such as Smilodon and primitive forms such as Paramachairodus. It was likely an ambush predator, preying on animals such as deer, tapirs and horses.

<i>Amphimachairodus</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Amphimachairodus is an extinct genus of large machairodonts. It is also a member of the tribe Homotherini within Machairodontinae and is most closely related to such species as Xenosmilus, Homotherium itself, and Nimravides. It inhabited Eurasia, Northern Africa and North America during the late Miocene epoch.

<i>Enhydriodon</i> Extinct genus of carnivorans

Enhydriodon is an extinct genus of mustelids known from Africa, Pakistan, and India that lived from the late Miocene to the early Pleistocene. It contains nine confirmed species, two debated species, and at least a few other undescribed species from Africa. The genus belongs to the tribe Enhydriodontini in the otter subfamily Lutrinae. Enhydriodon means "otter tooth" in Ancient Greek and is a reference to its dentition rather than to the Enhydra genus, which includes the modern sea otter and its two prehistoric relatives.

<i>Promegantereon</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Promegantereon is an extinct genus of machairodont from the Miocene of Europe. It is one of the oldest machairodont cat species in the Smilodontini and is believed to be an ancestor of Megantereon and Smilodon.

Tchadailurus is a genus of machairodontine felid from the late Miocene of Chad, Africa.

Taowu is an extinct genus of machairodonts, a type of saber-toothed cat. It lived during the Early Pleistocene about 2.5 million years ago in East Asia. So far, only one skull is known, found in northern China. Based on this, a relatively small representative of the saber-toothed cats can be reconstructed, which only reached the size of a present-day leopard. In its dentition characteristics, it mediates between phylogenetic older forms such as Amphimachairodus and younger members such as Homotherium. The genus was scientifically described in 2022, but the find material was recovered as early as the 1930s.

References

  1. ↑ Werdelin, Lars; Flink, Therese (2018). "Chapter 2: The Phylogenetic Context of Smilodon". Smilodon: The Iconic Sabertooth.
  2. 1 2 3 Stimpson, Christopher M. (May 2024). "Siwalik sabrecats: review and revised diagnosis of Megantereon fossils from the foothills of the Himalaya". Royal Society Open Science. 11 (5). Bibcode:2024RSOS...1131788S. doi:10.1098/rsos.231788. ISSN   2054-5703. PMC   11076117 . PMID   38720790.
  3. ↑ Turner, A (1987). "Megantereon cultridens (Cuvier) (Mammalia, Felidae, Machairodontinae) from Plio-Pleistocene Deposits in Africa and Eurasia, with Comments on Dispersal and the Possibility of a New World Origin". Journal of Paleontology. 61 (6): 1256–1268. Bibcode:1987JPal...61.1256T. doi:10.1017/S0022336000029632. JSTOR   1305213. S2CID   131803953.
  4. ↑ Min Zhu; Yaling Yan; Yihong Liu; Zhilu Tang; Dagong Qin; Changzhu Jin (2015). "The new Carnivore remains from the Early Pleistocene Yanliang Gigantopithecus fauna, Guangxi, South China". Quaternary International. 434: 17–24. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.01.009.
  5. ↑ Sharapov, S. (1986). "Kuruksaiskii Kompleks Pozdnepliotsenovykh Mlekopitaiushshikh Afgano-Tadzhikskoi Depressii" [Kuruksai Complex Of Late Pliocene Mammals Of The Afghan-Tajik Depression]. Izdatelstvo "Donish", Dushanbe (in Russian). 270.
  6. ↑ Z. Qiu; T. Deng; B. Wang (2004). "Early Pleistocene mammalian fauna from Longdan, Dongxiang, Gansu, China". Palaeont. Sin. New Ser. C. 27: 81–92.
  7. 1 2 Yu Li; Boyang Sun (2022). "Megantereon (Carnivora, Felidae) in the late Early Pleistocene in China and its implications for paleobiogeography". Quaternary International . 610: 97–107. Bibcode:2022QuInt.610...97L. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2021.09.008. ISSN   1040-6182. S2CID   240564316 . Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  8. ↑ Zhu, Min; Jiangzuo, Qigao; Qin, Dagong; Jin, Changzhu; Sun, Chengkai; Wang, Yuan; Yan, Yaling; Liu, Jinyi (December 30, 2020). "First discovery of Megantereon skull from southern China". Historical Biology . 33 (12): 3413–3422. doi:10.1080/08912963.2020.1867981. S2CID   234399240 – via Taylor and Francis+NEJM.
  9. ↑ Lewis, Margaret E.; Werdelin, Lars (November 2000). "Carnivora From the South Turkwel Hominid Site, Northern Kenya". Journal of Paleontology . 74 (6). The Paleontological Society: 1173. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2000)074<1173:cftsth>2.0.co;2. S2CID   86150362.
  10. ↑ Nomade, S.; Pastre, J. F.; Guillou, H.; Faure, M.; Guérin, C.; Delson, E.; Debard, E.; Voinchet, P.; Messager, E. (2014-06-01). "40Ar/39Ar constraints on some French landmark Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene large mammalian paleofaunas: Paleoenvironmental and paleoecological implications". Quaternary Geochronology . Quaternary Geochronology Special Issue: Advances in Ar/Ar Dating of Quaternary Events and Processes. 21: 2–15. doi:10.1016/j.quageo.2012.12.006. ISSN   1871-1014.
  11. ↑ De Bonis, L.; Peigne, S.; Mackaye, H. T.; Likius, A.; Vignaud, P.; Brunet, M. (2010). "New sabre-toothed cats in the Late Miocene of Toros Menalla (Chad)". Systematic Palaeontology (Vertebrate Palaeontology) Comptes Rendus Palevol. 9 (5): 221–227. Bibcode:2010CRPal...9..221D. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2010.07.018.
  12. ↑ Tura-Poch, Clàudia; Bartolini-Lucenti, Saverio; Jiangzuo, Qi-Gao; Prat-Vericat, Maria; Martínez-Navarro, Bienvenido; Rook, Lorenzo; Madurell-Malapeira, Joan (July 2024). "The disappearance of European dirk-toothed cats". Palaeoworld. doi: 10.1016/j.palwor.2024.05.003 .
  13. ↑ B. M. Navarro; P. Palmqvist (1995). "Presence of the African Machairodont Megantereon whitei (Broom, 1937) (Felidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) in the Lower Pleistocene Site of Venta Micena (Orce, Granada, Spain), with some Considerations on the Origin, Evolution and Dispersal of the Genus". Journal of Archaeological Science . 22 (4): 569–582. Bibcode:1995JArSc..22..569N. doi:10.1006/jasc.1994.0054.
  14. 1 2 Martinez-Navarro, Bienvenido; Palmqvist, Paul (November 1996). "Presence of the African Saber-toothed Felid Megantereon whitei (Broom, 1937) (Mammalia, Carnivora, Machairodontinae) in Apollonia-1 (Mygdonia Basin, Macedonia, Greece)". Journal of Archaeological Science . 23 (6): 869–872. Bibcode:1996JArSc..23..869M. doi:10.1006/jasc.1996.0081 . Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  15. ↑ N. Garcia; E. Virgos (2007). "Evolution of community in several carnivore palaeoguilds from the European Pleistocene: the role of intraspecific competition". Lethaia. 40. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.2006.00004.x.
  16. ↑ Konidaris, George E. (2022-09-07). "Guilds of large carnivorans during the Pleistocene of Europe: a community structure analysis based on foraging strategies". Lethaia. 55 (2): 1–18. Bibcode:2022Letha..55..2.5K. doi:10.18261/let.55.2.5. ISSN   0024-1164.
  17. ↑ Turner, Alan (1997). The Big Cats and their fossil relatives . New York: Columbia University Press. p.  55. ISBN   0-231-10228-3.
  18. 1 2 Antón, Mauricio (2013). Sabertooth. Bloomington, Indiana: University of Indiana Press. p. 185. ISBN   9780253010421.
  19. ↑ Palmqvist, Paul; Rodríguez-Gómez, Guillermo; Figueirido, Borja; García-Aguilar, José Manuel; Pérez-Claros, Juan Antonio (2022-01-01). "On the ecological scenario of the first hominin dispersal out of Africa". L'Anthropologie. Industries archaïques. 126 (1): 102998. doi:10.1016/j.anthro.2022.102998. ISSN   0003-5521.
  20. ↑ Palmqvist, P.; Perez-Claros, J. A.; Janis, C. M.; Figueirido, B.; Torregrosa, V.; Grocke, D. R. (November 2008). "Biogeochemical and Ecomorphological Inferences On Prey Selection and Resource Partitioning Among Mammalian Carnivores In An Early Pleistocene Community". PALAIOS . 23 (11): 724–737. Bibcode:2008Palai..23..724P. doi:10.2110/palo.2007.p07-073r. ISSN   0883-1351.
  21. ↑ "OUCH, THAT HURTS! Human-Sabertooth interaction at Dmanisi". June 19, 2013.
  22. ↑ "Dinofelis – hominid hunter or misunderstood feline? – Maropeng and Sterkfontein Caves | Official Visitor Centres for the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site". www.maropeng.co.za.
  23. ↑ Lee-Thorp, Julia; Thackeray, J. Francis; van der Merwe, Nikolaas (2000). "The hunters and the hunted revisited". Journal of Human Evolution. 39 (6): 565–576. Bibcode:2000JHumE..39..565L. doi:10.1006/jhev.2000.0436. ISSN   0047-2484. PMID   11102267.

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