In 2020, a mummy of a 35,000-year-old sabre-toothed cat was discovered by chance by a group of explorers looking for mammoth tusks in eastern Siberia. This was the first time ever that a sabre-toothed cats’ mummy was found with its fur intact, allowing scientists to learn more about its muscles, skin, and fur. Prior to this discovery, scientists only knew about these big cats through skeletons. The three-week old kitten was found frozen in the permafrost near the Badyarikha River in Siberia. Scientists say that finding mummified mammals from that period in history is very rare. By studying the mummy with CT scans, the researchers were able to identify it as a Homotherium saber-toothed cat.
Homotherium was the last kind of saber-toothed cat known to have existed.
Homotherium adults were about the size of a lion, but thinner, and good at running long distances.
What was the Sabre-Tooth Cat?
Sabre-toothed cats were large meat-eating mammals that lived thousands of years ago. This top predator lived in the prehistoric world after the dinosaurs died out. They have been named sabre-toothed cats because of their long, swordlike canine teeth. They died out around the end of the last Ice Age.
Word Check
Permafrost is a layer of ground in Arctic and Antarctic areas that remains frozen. Due to climate change, areas of permafrost are thawing, revealing secrets long buried and frozen.