Well-preserved remains of saber-toothed kitten found frozen in Russian tundra, researchers say

Scientists have discovered a pristine fossil of a mummified saber-toothed kitten that had been lying in the Russian tundra for about 37,000 years.

The body of a large cub, about 3 weeks old, was found in a block of ice in the Republic of Sakha, located in the Far East of Russia, along the Badyarich River in 2020, according to an article published in Scientific reports on Thursday

Radiocarbon dating puts the cub, with Homotherium Latin species, in the late Pleistocene period, according to researchers. The remains include the head and front part of the body preserved up to the edge of the chest.

The head of the mummy was especially well preserved, and the front limbs of the mummy were preserved almost completely, the publication notes. The kitten’s feet and claws were preserved on the sole surface of the front paw, and all the claws – sharp and strongly curved – were preserved on the fingers.

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It is not clear how the cub died, the researchers said, adding that its features suggest it was well-adapted to life in a cold climate.

According to the researchers, finds of frozen mummified remains of late Pleistocene mammals are “very rare”.

“For the first time in the history of paleontology, the appearance of an extinct mammal, which has no analogues in the modern fauna, has been studied,” the document says.

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Homotherium Fabrinialso known as saber-toothed cats or “tigers,” are characterized by their huge, deadly-sharp fangs, which paleontologists believe were used to grab and hold prey or to inflict a fatal wound in the stomach or throat of a prey animal.

They are thought to have died out at the end of the Pleistocene period about 12,000 years ago, and fossils have been found throughout Eurasia, Africa and the Americas.

Comparing the remains to modern lions of the same age, the researchers found “striking morphological features,” according to the paper. The extinct species’ physical differences included an unusual muzzle shape — with a large mouth opening and a small ear — a “very massive” neck area, elongated forelimbs and dark coat color. The mummy’s body is covered in “short, thick, soft dark brown fur” with hair about 20 to 30 millimeters long, the researchers described.

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Over the past 10 years, mummies of various animals have been discovered in the Russian basin of the Indyhirka River, which is a tributary of the Badyaricha River, researchers reported. According to the newspaper, “numerous” bones of mammoths have been collected in the region.

The latest discovery of the “Badyarykh mummy” radically expands the idea of ​​the distribution of the genus and confirms its presence in the late Pleistocene of Asia.

Well-preserved remains of saber-toothed kitten found frozen in Russian tundra, researchers say first appeared on abcnews.go.com