Machairodus
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Machairodus (from Ancient Greek μάχαιρα (mákhaira), a type of ancient sword, and ὀδούς (odoús), meaning "tooth") is a genus of large machairodont or saber-toothed cat that lived in Africa and Eurasia during the Middle to Late Miocene, from 12.5 million to 8.7 million years ago. It is the animal from which the subfamily Machairodontinae gets its name. The genus currently consists of four named species: M. alberidae, M. aphanistus, M. laskerevi, and M. robinsoni. The genus is currently usually placed as one of the most basal members of the tribe Homotherini, and the ancestor of later members of
~13 min read
Encyclopedic overview
8 sectionsContents
- History of research and taxonomy
- Description
- Paleobiology
- Predatory behavior
- Pathology
- Social behavior
- Paleoecology
- References
Machairodus (from Ancient Greek μάχαιρα (mákhaira), a type of ancient sword, and ὀδούς (odoús), meaning "tooth") is a genus of large machairodont or saber-toothed cat that lived in Africa and Eurasia during the Middle to Late Miocene, from 12.5 million to 8.7 million years ago. It is the animal from which the subfamily Machairodontinae gets its name. The genus currently consists of four named species: M. alberidae, M. aphanistus, M. laskerevi, and M. robinsoni. The genus is currently usually placed as one of the most basal members of the tribe Homotherini, and the ancestor of later members of the tribe, such as Amphimachairodus.
The type species of the genus, M. aphanistus, was comparable to tigers in size, weighing , making it an apex predator of the ecosystems it inhabited. Much like some of its relatives such as Homotherium and Amphimachairodus, it may have been gregarious, with males forming coalitions of two or more individuals. Although females, may have been solitary. It is thought to have hunted relatively large prey, such as the three-toed horse Hipparion.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Machairodus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.