Mummy of saber-toothed tiger cub found in Siberia – History Blog

The mummified remains of a saber-toothed cat cub have been found in remarkably well-preserved conditions in Siberian permafrost. Radiocarbon dating found the cub lived and died between 35,500 and 37,000 years ago.

In 2020, paleontologist Alexey Lopatin discovered the calf while searching for mammoth tusks in the Badyarikha River in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The mummy consists of the head and upper body of a feline cub, which is covered in thick brown fur. The toe pads, claws, muscles, skin and even whiskers are preserved in the permafrost. The lower half of the cub has not been preserved, except for some incomplete pelvic bones that are connected to the femur and tibia encased in ice.

CT scans of the remains were performed to conduct a detailed analysis of the bones. The scans were compared with the body of a three-week-old modern lion cub, focusing specifically on the skull and teeth, to determine its species. Examination of bone measurements and other anatomical features such as eye shape, nose and nostril proportions, and fur length revealed that the pup belonged to the species Hidden with the same horse. The stage of eruption of the incisors suggests the cub was just three weeks old when it died in the freezing Arctic Circle.

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Research on mummies Hidden with the same horse The cub allows for the first time to observe its fur, the shape of its muzzle, the shape and position of its auricles, the shape of its mouth opening and nasal plane. The researchers also studied for the first time the shape of the predator’s front paws and characterized the distribution of its muscle mass. New information on the juvenile developmental stages of the skull and limbs makes it possible to characterize the early postnatal ontogeny of synodonts. Furthermore, the discovery of H. latidens mummies in Yakutia radically expands knowledge of the distribution of this genus and confirms its presence in the Late Pleistocene of Asia. Thus, for the first time in the history of paleontological research, the appearance of an extinct mammal that has no analogues in modern fauna has been directly studied.

Researchers will continue to study the saber-toothed tiger kitten. They will try to extract DNA from the remains of the cub, which has been frozen in ice for 35,000 years, suggesting success. Subsequent papers will describe its anatomical features in further detail.