http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/1 ... d=webmail2 (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/15/saber-toothed-cat-fossils_n_2884922.html?ncid=webmail2)
QuoteWhen alive, the panther-size cat would've lived alongside rhinos, tapirs, three-toed horses, peccaries, llamas and deer in a coastal forest. There, the researchers suspect, Rhizosmilodontook advantage of its small size to climb trees and hide captured prey from larger meat-eaters including packs of hyena-dogs and an extinct bear larger than today's grizzly.
The new cat was originally misidentified from a partial lower jaw fossil in the early 1980s as a member of the genus Megantereon. The cat is actually a sister species to Megantereon and Smilodon, but is older than either group. All three are called saber-toothed cats because of their long canine teeth.
Root of Smilodon.
The museum at the La Brea tar pits is my favorite part of the LA area.
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