Megantereon

Megantereon Temporal range: Early Pliocene to Middle Pleistocene
Conservation status
Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Superfamily:	Aeluroidea
Family:	Felidae
Subfamily:	†Machairodontinae
Genus:	†Megantereon Croizet & Jobert, 1828

Megantereon is an extinct genus of the superfamily Aeluroidea, family Felidae, subfamily Machairodontinae (saber-toothed cat) endemic to North America, Europe, Asia, Eurasia, and Africa during the Late Miocene-Pliocene epochs (10.3—11.8 mya), existing for approximately 8.6 million years.

Taxonomy

Megantereon was named by Croizet and Jobert (1828) [also attributed to Croizet alone]. Its type is Ursus cultridens. It was assigned to Felidae by Croizet and Jobert (1828) and Carroll (1988); to Machairodontinae by Martin (1998); and to Smilodontini by Berta and Galiano (1983), Kurtén and Werdelin (1990) and Liu (2005).

Morphology

Megantereon was built like a modern jaguar or somewhat heavier. It had stocky forelimbs with the lower half of these forelimbs lion-sized. It had large neck muscles designed to power a devastating bite. The elongated upper canines were protected by flanges at the mandible. The largest specimens with an estimated body weight of 90-150 kg (average 120 kg) are known from India. Medium sized forms of Megantereon are known from other parts of Eurasia and the Pliocene of North America. The smallest forms from Africa und the lower Pleistocene of Europe have been estimated to only 60-70 kg. However, other sources estimated Megantereon from the European lower Pleistocene at 100-160 kg.

Two specimens were examined by M. Mendoza for body mass. Specimen one was estimated to have a weight of 23.5 kg (51.8 lbs). Specimen two was estimated to have a weight of 65.7 kg (144.8 lbs).

Hunting technique

It is unlikely that Megantereon simply bit its prey as the long, sabre-teeth that Smilodon is famed for are not strong enough to leave buried inside a struggling prey animal: the teeth would break off. It is possible that they bit their prey and then allowed it to bleed to death, but then they would have to protect that animal from other predators and thus their tactic for killing remains uncertain. It is now generally thought that Megantereon, like other saber-toothed cats, used its long saber teeth to deliver a killing throat bite, severing most of the major nerves and blood vessels. While the teeth would still risk damage, the prey animal would be killed quickly enough that any struggles would be feeble at best.

Fossil range

Fossil fragments have been found in Africa, Eurasia, and North America. Megantereon probably first appeared in the early Pliocene roughly 4.5 million years ago in North America. About 3-3.5 Million years ago it is firmly recorded also from Africa and Eurasia. At the end of the Pliocene it evolved into the larger Smilodon in North America, while it survived in the Old World until the middle Pleistocene. The youngest remains from east Africa are about 1.5 million years old. In southern Africa the genus is recorded from Elandsfontein, a site dated to around 700,000-400,000 years old. Remains from Untermaßfeld show that Megantereon lived until 900,000 years ago in Europe. In Asia it may have survived until 500,000 years ago, as it is recorded together with Homo erectus at the famous site of Zho-Khou-Dien in China. The only full skeleton was found in Senéze, France.

Species

The number of species is unclear, with some known from only fragmentary evidence. Some researchers have argued that three species should be distinguished: M. cultridens from North America, Asia (except the Indian subcontinent) and the European Pliocene, M. whitei from Africa and the European Lower Pleistocene and M. falconeri from India. Therefore, the true number of species may be less than the full list of described species reproduced below.

• Megantereon nihowanensis - probably a junior synonym of M cultridens
• Megantereon cultridens
• Megantereon whitei
• Megantereon gracile
• Megantereon eurynodon
• Megantereon megantereon
• Megantereon vakhshensis
• Megantereon ekidoit
• Megantereon falconeri
• Megantereon hesperus
• Megantereon spiryleris

Popular Culture

Megantereon was depicted in a Discovery Channel TV Series, Before We Ruled the Earth, as a nocturnal hunter that preyed on Homo ergaster.

Literature

• A. Turner: The big cats and their fossil relatives. Columbia University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-231-10229-1
• Jordi Augusti: Mammoths, Sabertooths and Hominids 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. Columbia University Press, 2002, ISBN 0-231-11640-3
• D. Mol / W. v. Logchem / K. v. Hooijdonk / R. Bakker: The Saber-Toothed Cat, DrukWare, Norg 2008, ISBN 978-90-78707-04-2