Researchers found a mummified saber-toothed cat in Russian permafrost.
Despite being at least 35,000 years old, the cub retained most of its soft tissue, muscles, and fur.
Studies compared the saber-toothed cub to a modern lion cub and found that their paw pads had unique adaptations that allowed them to walk in cold, icy conditions.
Permafrost has the unique ability to (literally) freeze history in its tracks. The constant extreme freezing conditions preserve fur, flesh, and bone in a process similar to freeze drying. In order to create these biological time capsules, animals must die in a location with permafrost (where the ground is constantly frozen), and get buried quickly enough that it doesn’t start decomposing. Wolves, mammoths, and wooly rhinoceroses have all been preserved thanks to permafrost, and now, researchers have found another remarkable incredible mummy in Russia.
The remains of a young saber-toothed cat were discovered near the Badyarikha River in Yakutia. Remarkably, the corpse retained nearly all of its fur, muscle, and soft tissue. After the cub was unearthed in 2020, researchers rigorously studied the find, and published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports.
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Paleontologists identified the cub as a member of the genus Homotherium, and radiocarbon dating estimates the cub is at least 35,000 years old, meaning it likely lived during the latter part of the Pleistocene epoch. Needless to say, the scientific community was shocked.
“Many paleontologists working with felids, including myself, have been hoping for decades to see a frozen saber-tooth felid from the permafrost,” said Manuel Salesa, a specialist in saber-toothed cats who was not involved in the paper, told the New York Times. “This amazing find is one of the most exciting moments of my career.”
Studies on the cub compared its anatomy to a modern-day lion cub’s, leading researchers to believe the saber-toothed cat was around three weeks old when it died. At first glance, the Homotherium’s fur is much darker than that of the lion cub’s, according to Alexey Lopatin, a researcher on the study. The mummy’s paws were also round, rather than narrow—almost reminiscent of a bear paw. Researchers suggest that the square toe pads and absence of a carpal pad (the small pad typically located just above the toes) are adaptations would have made the cub better suited for walking in snow and low temperatures.
Researchers also found that the Homotherium cub’s lips were twice the height of a modern lion cub’s, contributing to a long-standing debate about whether saber-tooth cats’ canines were sheathed. Not only were the cub’s lips larger, but so were its neck, mouth opening, and forelimbs, which could shed light into the animals’ hunting techniques.
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“The idea about saber-toothed cats is that they had to have some sort of assistance from the rest of the body—that it’s not just a headfirst hunting technique,” Jack Tseng, a paleontologist who was not involved in the study, told CNN. “And the forearm has been one of the targets of research to think about. Are they buffer in their forearms compared to modern big cats of similar sizes, because they need a forearm to help stabilize their prey so that the saber can be put to use?”
The Homotherium cub is especially remarkable because it’s the first known mummy of a saber-tooth cat, and provides an unprecedented look into what the felines may have looked like. In the future, researchers plan to extract DNA from the mummy and continue studying the skeleton, tissues, and hair.
“It’s a fantastic feeling to see with your own eyes the life appearance of a long-extinct animal,” Lopatin told CNN. “Especially when it comes to such an interesting predator as the saber-toothed cat.”
Lettermark
Emma Frederickson is a Pace University student by day, journalist by night. She enjoys covering anything from pop culture to science to food. Her work appears in several publications including Biography.com and Popular Mechanics. When she’s not writing, Emma can be found hopping between coffee shops on the hunt for the world’s best oat milk cappuccino.