Dinofelis

Dinofelis is a genus of extinct sabre-toothed cats belonging to the tribe Metailurini. They were widespread in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America at least 5 million to about 1.2 million years ago (Early Pliocene to Early Pleistocene). Fossils very similar to Dinofelis from Lothagam range back to the Late Miocene, some 8 million years ago. In size they were between a modern leopard and a lion, with most about the size of a jaguar (70 cm tall and up to 120 kg), they were medium-sized but powerful cats with a pair of prominent saber teeth. The front limbs were particularly robust compared to modern cats (even the jaguar). Two specimens were examined by Serge Legendre and Claudia Roth for body mass. The first specimen was estimated to weigh 31.4 kg (69 lb), the second 87.8 kg (190 lb). The canine teeth of Dinofelis are longer and more flattened than those of modern cats but less than those of true saber-tooths, hence the designation of Dinofelis and nimravids as 'false saber-tooth' cats. (However, Nimravids are not close relatives of Dinofelis.) While the lower canines are robust, the cheek teeth are not nearly as robust as those of the lion and other modern big cats. Based on Dinofelis' likely preference of forest habitats, ethologist William Allen et al. believes it possessed a spotted or striped coat. Their stout body may indicate a preference for dense or mixed habitats, although, like the modern jaguar, it may have ranged from forest to open country, including wetlands. Analysis of carbon isotope ratios in specimens from Swartkrans indicates that Dinofelis' preferentially hunted grazing animals. The main predators of hominids in the environment at that time were most likely leopards and fellow machairodont Megantereon, whose carbon isotope ratios showed more indication of preying on hominids. Dinofelis fossils and bones have been found in South Africa near those of the baboons that it possibly had killed. Bones from several specimens of Dinofelis and baboons were found in a natural trap, where Dinofelis may have been lured to feed on trapped prey. Several sites from South Africa seem to show Dinofelis may have hunted and killed Australopithecus africanus, since the finds mingle fossilized remains of Dinofelis, hominids, and other large contemporary animals. In South Africa, Dinofelis remains have been found near Paranthropus fossil skulls, a few with precisely spaced canine holes in their crania, so it is possible Dinofelis preyed on robust hominids as well. This may been rare, however, as carbon isotope ratios contradict this.