It was not a lion or intended. 22 million years ago in Africa Giant predator I set up the camp, dominating primitive forests without any other animal. He had a skull the size of a rhino, teeth capable of crushing the bones and weight that could overcome the weight of the White Bear. His name in Suahili means The Great LeoThe field after years Simbakubva Kutocafrika will end hidden in a dusty box Nairobi National MuseumField
A colossal predator that was not what seemed like
Before the monumental jaw left its conclusion, the bones were found in Kenya During the expedition, which was actually looking for the fossils of old monkeys. Since they did not fulfill their goal, they ultimately forgot, with a label hyena This was little concerned with his true personality.
Only in 2013, after an exhaustive review of the warehouse, a paleontologist Matt Bortsnext to Nancy StevensHe repaired in those disproportionate teeth that they left no doubt in their carnivorous diet.
The discovery published in The magazine of the paleontology of vertebratesThey allowed to illuminate the form that was neither Leon nor Hiege, even if his teeth resemble the latter. Borst, in an interview for WorldHe explained that “his skull was as great as that of the nasal rhino, and his huge dog teeth, sharp, like blades, were able to break meat and crush the bone.”
It was neither a lion nor a hyena, but they ate everyone else
Simbakubva This did not belong to any kind of well -known line of modern predators. He was a member HyaenodontosAn extinct group, which dominated in the African food chain Within millions of years after the disappearance of dinosaurs.
Unlike the current lions, Giyev or dogs, Hyaenodontos They belonged to one Various evolutionary line This does not share the origin with the great modern predators. About this Taxonomic divisionThe researcher explained that “Hyaenodontos is their own line, with an evolutionary trip, completely separated from hyenas, lions and all today’s mammals today.”
He Early Miocenethe time when it reigned SimbakubvaThis had nothing to do with the current savannah. Great herbivores were such creatures as Anthracotheriosremote relatives of hippopers and giant IracoidsThe Borts field said that “the landscape had more closed forests and savannahs, which we represent with elephants and giraffes, have not yet developed.”
The change in the stage marked the beginning of decline
In the middle of this changing world, Simbakubva adapted to survival, although The advantage will not last forever. When Africa encountered Eurasia, and the eastern rift appeared, new species appeared. The environment, more and more dry and open, ultimately leaned toward the balance against the old African predators. Although Simbakubva He resisted, his younger relatives gave position to the ancestors of dogs and cats.
A Extreme specialization as a superotistor This was not an eternal advantage. They depended so much on large prey that any mismatch in the ecosystem can become fatal. In fact, Borts explained that “small changes in the ecosystem can have a great influence on predators” and added that the study Simbakubva “You can give us an idea of how large predators adapt to a change in landscapes and what can cause their final extinction.”
Currently, although great coma dominate in food top, they are divided with Simbakubva The same threat: the world in Constant transformationThe field of hints left by this great lion without cat relationships remain necessary to understand the mechanisms that determine who survives and who is not.
