New fossil discovery reminds people that saber-toothed cats once stalked Mississippi

Sharing is caring!

If you were a Native American around 10,000 years ago, you might have seen one of the most fearsome big cats on Earth.The saber-toothed tiger (Smilodon fatalis) may have eaten prey such as Pickup trucksincluding a giant ground sloth weighing up to 2,000 pounds.

However, their hunting style can be even more terrifying, stalking silently and then ambushing. They suddenly leap out and deliver a fatal blow with their terrifying fangs the size of bananas. At least it might all be over soon if you end up on the menu? Especially considering these creatures probably hunt in packs!

Today it is rare to find evidence of saber-toothed tigers. But a Mississippi man recently discovered more evidence of these incredible apex predators. No, they’re not actually tigers, but people still associate them with the name “saber-toothed tiger.” Oh well, Jam still thinks he’s a tiger!

Sabre-toothed tiger bones found in Yazoo County, Mississippi

Just north of Jackson in Yazoo County, amateur archaeologist Eddie Templeton made this incredible discovery while searching for fossils. He discovered a crystalline phalanx bone belonging to a saber-toothed cat. At the time, he wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew it was from the Ice Age or the Pleistocene.

To the casual observer, this bone may not look like much. It makes you wonder how many times someone might have discarded a find like this without realizing it belonged to a saber-toothed tiger! Now, it may join the ranks of just six big cat fossils in the Mississippi Museum of Natural Sciences’ collection.

Fossil toes are not scary at all. But for Native Americans and everything that moves, they always have to be wary of these predators.

“These are things that the first Native Americans who came to Mississippi would have encountered,” said James Starnes of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality’s Office of Geology. “Native Americans had an abundant diet of meat, but there were dangers,” he told us Bugle Ledger.

Chart passed Wikimedia Commons (Translated by Google)

In ancient Mississippi, saber-toothed cats had no problem hunting any kind of prey, Starnes said. Their canines are more than 10 inches long, half of which are embedded in the skull.

“Even against cougars, they have insane agility. They have no problem hunting down anything they want to eat, including humans. These animals roam all over the state,” he continued.

saber tooth tiger via Wikimedia Commons

Even so, humans and climate changes at the end of the Ice Age may eventually have caused them all to become extinct.

Mississippi Museum of Natural Sciences

The Mississippi Museum of Natural Sciences has an impressive replica of a saber-toothed tiger. It’s dwarfed by nearby replicas of giant ground sloths, which may be 12 feet tall and weigh 2,000 pounds. In 2023, sloth bones were discovered in a river In northeastern Mississippi.

In recent years, they also discovered for the first time horned dinosaur Mississippi Teeth, which most people associate with Triceratops.

Despite their different size, the sloth dug a hole in the ground to hide from the fearsome saber-toothed tiger. However, these big cats can be defeated in close combat with other outnumbered apex predators!Although they look scary, those giant canine teeth might not that effective Fight a pack of mountain lions or dire wolves.

Attenborough’s most frightened animal

When David Attenborough visited the Natural History Museum and saw the skeleton of a saber-toothed cat, he said, “To me, there is no more shocking animal in the whole museum.”

As he points out, there’s evidence that saber-toothed cats may have lived in groups and let the elders share prey. Think of a whole group of people lurking in the shadows! shudder!

Sabretooth Tiger Video:

Post views: twenty two

Sharing is caring!