Cave lion and saber-toothed tiger. Who is more dangerous, who is faster and who is stronger - a lion or a tiger? What did he look like

On our planet in different time lived a large number of fauna representatives. However, the populations of many animals began to decline. The main factors of extinction have always been considered those associated with climate. But with the development of man, many animals disappeared forever. In this article we will talk about the disappeared wild cats.

Tasmanian tiger (marsupial tiger, Tasmanian wolf, thylacine)

One of the most mysterious animals that has been exterminated is the Tasmanian tiger.

It got its name in honor of the habitat - Tasmania. Despite the fact that to a large extent its name suggests the relationship of a mammal to the cat family, in fact it is a big misconception. Many researchers even classify the mammal as a subspecies of wild dogs.

The length of an adult individual could reach 1.4 meters without taking into account the tail. The length of the tail could exceed 60 cm. The weight of the animal is 6.35-7.7 kg.

European settlers who arrived Australian mainland, began a rapid hunt for individuals of this species, arguing that the Tasmanian tigers steal livestock. By the 1920s, the animal population had been reduced so much that scientists had to list the species in the Red Book. Man finally exterminated the Tasmanian tiger in 1936.

Caspian tiger (Persian tiger, Turanian tiger)

A feature of such tigers is long stripes along the body, as well as their brown color. In winter, whiskers appeared in the Caspian tigers, the fur in the abdomen and the entire body became very fluffy and thick.

The mass of the average Caspian tiger was 240 kg.

The Romans used the Caspian tigers in gladiator fights.

The Caspian tiger lived in Central Asia, as well as the territory North Caucasus. The rookery of the Caspian tiger could be observed up close in tropical impassable places. But they were all pretty close to the water. In just one day, the Turanian tiger could travel more than 100 km, which indicates the endurance of an extinct animal.

The last mentions and studies related to this representative of the fauna date back to the 50s of the last century. On the territory of Turkmenistan on January 10, 1954, one of the last individuals was seen, which migrated from the northern part of Iran. According to some reports, the last Caspian tiger was shot in the southeastern part of Turkey in 1970.

Javan tiger

It got its name because of the place of its main residence - the island of Java, located in Indonesia.

Adult individuals weighed 75-141 kg, body length is about 2-2.5 meters.

It died out relatively recently - in the 1980s, due to habitat destruction, as well as poaching.

Bali tiger

The habitat is the island of Bali, which is why it was called Balinese.

It is believed that the Ballic and Javan tigers had the same ancestor.

The length of the tiger is 0.93-2.3 meters, excluding the tail, weight 65-100 kg.

Outwardly, this tiger among all subspecies was distinguished by the smallest number of black stripes. There may be dark spots between the stripes.

The tiger is often mentioned in folk tales and in fine arts peoples of Bali.

Bali tigers were destroyed by hunters. The last tiger was killed in 1937.

Pleistocene tiger

The most mysterious feline subspecies, known from fragmentary remains.

He lived in Russia, China and on the island of Java.

It is rather an early version of the modern tiger.

European cheetah (giant cheetah)

Lived on the territory of Eurasia about 500 thousand years ago.

Body length 1.3-1.5 meters excluding tail. Weight 60-90 kg. Height 90-120 cm.

Historians have discovered the remains of this cat in Europe, India and China.

Outwardly, he looked like a modern cheetah. The color of this animal remains a mystery. There are suggestions that the European cheetah had long hair.

The European cheetah most likely died out due to competition with other felids, which left no free niche for this large predator.

Miracinonyx

Possibly a distant relative of the cheetah. Probably the ancestor of the cougar.

He lived about 3 million years ago on the American continent.

Outwardly, it was similar to a modern cheetah, had a shortened skull, with enlarged nasal cavities and high teeth.

It was about the size of a modern cheetah.

Miracinonyx became extinct 20-10 thousand years ago due to climate change, lack of food and human hunting for it.

European jaguar (Gombastsog panther)

Lived approximately 1.5 million years ago, and is the earliest famous view genus Panthers in Europe.

European jaguars averaged around 120-160 kg. They were larger than modern jaguars.

The European jaguar was most likely a solitary animal. Lived in forests, but could also hunt in open spaces.

Pleistocene jaguar

It is believed to have descended from the giant jaguar. Appeared about 1.6 million years ago.

It was 1 meter high, 1.8-2 meters long, excluding tail, weight 150-190 kg.

Pleistocene jaguars lived in dense jungles, swampy floodplains or coastal zones Northern and South America.

Extinct 10 thousand years ago.

giant jaguar

Lived in North America 1.6 million years ago.

There were two subspecies of giant jaguars - North American and South American.

The jaguar had long legs and a tail, and was about the size of a modern lion or tiger.

Scientists believe that jaguars lived on open plains, but due to rivalry with lions and other big cats, they were forced to find more wooded areas.

Extinct 10 thousand years ago.

Barbary lion (Atlas lion or Nubian lion)

The mass of an adult is 100-270 kg.

This animal was considered the largest lion subspecies. The Barbarian lion differed from its counterparts in a thick and dark mane, which went far beyond its shoulders and hung down in the lower abdomen.

In the past, it could be found in Africa, in the northern part of the Sahara desert. Europeans brought it to the Roman Empire, where it was used for recreational purposes, namely, fights with the Turanian tiger.

AT early XVII century, its population has declined sharply, with the result that it was only visible in northwestern Africa. Due to the popular use of firearms against animals, as well as the existence of a targeted policy against the Barbary lion, led to a decrease in numbers in this region. The last individual was killed in 1922 in the Atlas Mountains on the territory of their Moroccan part.

cave lion

2.1 meters long, up to 1.2 meters high.

The Mosbach lion is considered the progenitor of the cave lion.

Lived in northern Eurasia.

The cave lion, despite its name, did not live in the caves, but came there only during periods of illness or old age.

It's believed that cave lions were social animals and lived, like modern lions, in prides.

american lion

He lived about 11 thousand years ago.

The body length is about 2.5 meters, excluding the tail. The American lion weighed over 400 kg.

The American lion is descended from the cave lion, whose ancestor is the Mosbach lion. Outwardly, most likely, it looked like a hybrid of a modern lion and a tiger, but, perhaps, without a huge mane.

mosbach lion

Lived about 300 thousand years ago.

The body length of an adult individual reached 2.5 meters, excluding the tail, the lions were about 1.3 meters high. The Mosbach lion weighed up to 450 kg.

It turns out that it was the largest and heaviest subspecies of the lion of all that existed.

From the Mosbach lion came the cave lion.

Xenosmilus

Lived in what is now North America about 1.8 million years ago.

Xenosmilus weighed up to 350 kg, and the body size was about 2 meters.

Xenosmilus had a powerful physique and short but strong paws, had not very long upper fangs.

Homotherium

Lived in Eurasia, Africa and North America 3-3.5 million years ago.

The ancestor of Homotheria is Machairod.

Growth of Homotherium up to 1.1 meters, weight about 190 kg.

The forelimbs are somewhat longer than the hind ones, the tail is short - the homotherium was more like a hyena than a big cat. Homotherians had relatively short upper canine teeth, but were wider and serrated.

Homotheria had a difference from all cats - they saw better during the day, and not at night.

Extinct 10 thousand years ago.

Machairod

Lived in Eurasia, Africa and North America about 15 million years ago.

The name of the genus comes from the similarity of the teeth of its representatives with curved mahair swords. Machairods looked like giant tigers with 35 cm long saber fangs.

This Saber-toothed tiger weighed up to 200 kg and was up to 3 meters long.

They became extinct about 2 million years ago.

Smilodon

He lived in America from 2.5 million to 10 thousand years BC. e.

Smilodon was the largest saber-toothed cat, reaching a height at the withers of 1.25 meters, a length of 2.5 meters including a 30-centimeter tail and weighing from 225 to 400 kg.

He had a stocky physique atypical for modern felines. The coloration of these animals could be uniform, but most likely it was spotted, like a leopard, and the presence of a short mane in males is also possible.

Smilodon fangs were up to 29 centimeters long (including the root), and, despite their fragility, were powerful weapons.

Scientists believe that smilodons were social animals. They lived in groups. Feeding the pride females.

The name "smilodon" means "dagger tooth".

One of the famous cartoon characters Diego from the cartoon "Ice Age" is just a smilodon.

Thilacosmil (Saber-toothed tiger)

Lived in South America about 5 million years ago.

It was 0.8-1.8 meters long.

It died out 2.5 million years ago, probably unable to compete with the first saber-toothed cats, in particular with Homotherium.

Outwardly, thilacosmil was a large, powerful stocky predator, with huge fangs. He was missing his upper incisors.

In general, thilacosmil was not a relative saber-toothed tigers from the cat family, rather just a similar species that lived in the same conditions.

teetering on the brink of extinction due to destruction ecological systems and habitat loss. In the following paragraphs of the article, you will learn about 10 extinct species of tigers and lions that have disappeared from the face of the Earth over the past few thousand years.

Despite its name, the American cheetah had more in common with cougars than with modern cheetahs. Its slender, lithe body, like that of a cheetah, is most likely the result of convergent evolution (the tendency for dissimilar organisms to take on similar body shapes and behaviors when developed under similar conditions). In the case of Miracinonyx, the grassy plains of North America and Africa had almost identical conditions, which played a role in the emergence of outwardly similar animals. American cheetahs became extinct at the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, possibly due to human encroachment on their territory.

As with the American cheetah (see previous paragraph), the relationship of the American lion to modern lions is a matter of much debate. According to some reports, this predator of the Pleistocene era is more closely related to tigers and jaguars. The American lion coexisted and competed with other superpredators of the time, such as the saber-toothed tiger, the giant short-faced bear, and dire wolf.

If the American lion was actually a subspecies of the lion, then it was the largest of its kind. Some alpha males reached a mass of up to 500 kg.

As you might guess from the name of the animal, the Bali tiger was native to the Indonesian island of Bali, where the last individuals died out only about 50 years ago. For thousands of years, the Bali tiger has been at odds with the indigenous human settlements in Indonesia. However, the neighborhood with local tribes did not pose a serious threat to these tigers until the arrival of the first European traders and mercenaries who ruthlessly hunted Bali tigers for sport and sometimes to protect their animals and homesteads.

One of the most formidable subspecies of the lion was the Barbary lion, a valuable property of medieval British lords who wanted to intimidate their peasants. Several large individuals made their way from North Africa to the zoo located in the Tower of London, where many British aristocrats were previously imprisoned and executed. The males of the Barbary lion had especially thick manes, and reached a mass of about 500 kg, which made them one of the largest lions ever to live on Earth.

There is a high likelihood of a resurgence of the Barbary lion subspecies in wild nature by selecting his offspring, scattered throughout the zoos of the world.

The Caspian lion has a precarious position in the classification big cats. Some naturalists argue that these lions should not be classified as a separate subspecies, considering the Kaispi lion to be simply a geographical offshoot of the still extant Transvaal lion. In fact, it is very difficult to distinguish an individual subspecies from an isolated population. In any case, the last specimens of these representatives of big cats became extinct at the end of the 19th century.

6. Turan tiger, or Transcaucasian tiger, or Caspian tiger

Of all the big cats that have become extinct in the past 100 years, the Turanian tiger had the largest geographic distribution, from Iran to the vast, windswept steppes of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The greatest damage to this subspecies was caused by Russian empire, which bordered on the habitats of the Caspian tiger. Tsarist officials encouraged the destruction of the Turanian tigers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

As with the Barbary lion, the Caspian tiger can be reintroduced into the wild through selective breeding of its offspring.

Probably, the cave lion, along with the saber-toothed tiger, is one of the most famous extinct big cats. Oddly enough, cave lions did not live in caves. They got their name because many fossils of these lions have been found in the caves of Europe, visited by sick or dying individuals.

An interesting fact is that paleontologists attribute as many as three subspecies to the European lion: Panthera leo europaea, Panthera leo tartarica and Panthera leo fossilis. They are united by relatively large body sizes (some males weighed about 200 kg, females were slightly smaller) and susceptibility to encroachment and seizure of territories by representatives of the early European civilization: for example, European lions often participated in gladiator fights in the arenas of ancient Rome.

Javan tiger, like his close relative the Bali tiger (see point 3) was limited to one island in the Malay Archipelago. Despite relentless hunting, the main reason for the extinction of the Javan tiger was the loss of habitat due to the rapid growth of the human population in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The last Javan tiger was seen in the wild decades ago. Given the overpopulation of the island of Java, no one has high hopes for the restoration of this subspecies.

10. Smilodon (saber-toothed tiger)

FROM scientific point sight of smilodon, it has nothing to do with modern tigers. However, given its overall popularity, the saber-toothed tiger deserves a mention in this list of extinct big cats. The saber-toothed tiger was one of the most dangerous predators Pleistocene era, capable of sinking its huge fangs into the neck large mammals those times.

Before man climbed to the top of the food chain, wild cats were the strongest and most successful hunters. Even today, these huge predators cause fear and at the same time admiration in a person who is not their competitor in hunting. And yet, prehistoric cats were much better in every way, especially when it comes to hunting. Today's article presents the 10 largest prehistoric felines.

The prehistoric cheetah belongs to the same genus as today's cheetahs. His appearance was very similar to the appearance of the modern cheetah, but its ancestor was many times larger. The giant cheetah was more like a modern lion in size, because its weight sometimes reached 150 kilograms, so the cheetah easily hunted larger animals. According to some reports, the ancient cheetahs were able to accelerate at speeds up to 115 kilometers per hour. The wild cat lived on the territory of modern Europe and Asia, but could not survive the ice age.

This dangerous animal does not exist today, however, there was a time when xenosmilus, along with others predatory cats led food chain planets. Outwardly, he very much resembled a saber-toothed tiger, but unlike him, xenosmilus had much shorter teeth, which were similar to the teeth of a shark or predatory dinosaur. The formidable predator hunted from an ambush, after which he instantly killed the prey, tearing off pieces of meat from it. Xenosmilus was very large, sometimes its weight reached 230 kilograms. Little is known about the animal's habitat. The only place where it was possible to find his remains is Florida.

Currently, jaguars do not differ in particularly large sizes, as a rule, their weight is only 55-100 kilograms. As it turned out, they were not always so. In the distant past, the modern territory of South and North America was filled with giant jaguars. Unlike the modern jaguar, they had longer tails and limbs, and their size was several times larger. According to scientists, the animals lived on open plains along with lions and some other wild cats, and as a result of constant rivalry, they were forced to change their place of residence to more wooded areas. The size of a giant jaguar was equated to a modern tiger.

If the giant jaguars belonged to the same genus as modern ones, then the European jaguars belonged to a completely different one. Unfortunately, today it is still not known what the European jaguar looked like, but some information about it is still known. For example, scientists claim that the weight of this cat was more than 200 kilograms, and the habitat was such countries as Germany, England, the Netherlands, France and Spain.

Such a lion is considered a subspecies of the lion. Cave lions were incredibly large, and their weight reached 300 kilograms. Terrible predators lived in Europe after the ice age, where they were considered one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet. Some sources say that these animals were sacred animals, so they were worshiped by many peoples, and perhaps they were simply afraid. Scientists have repeatedly found various figurines and drawings depicting a cave lion. It is known that cave lions did not have a mane.

One of the scariest and dangerous representatives wild cats prehistoric time is homotherium. The predator lived in the countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, South and North America. The animal adapted so well to the climate of the tundra that it could live for more than 5 million years. The appearance of Homotherium was markedly different from the appearance of all wild cats. The front limbs of this giant were much longer than the hind limbs, which made it look like a hyena. This structure suggests that Homotherium did not jump very well, especially in contrast to modern cats. Although homoteria cannot be called the most, its weight reached a record 400 kilograms. This suggests that the beast was larger than even a modern tiger.

The appearance of the mahairod is similar to the appearance of the tiger, but it is much larger, with more long tail and huge fangs-knives. Whether he had the characteristic stripes of a tiger is still not known. The remains of mahairod were found in Africa, which indicates its place of residence, in addition, archaeologists are convinced that this wild cat was one of the largest of those times. The weight of mahairod reached half a ton, and in size it resembled a modern horse. Rhinos, elephants and other large herbivores formed the basis of the predator's diet. According to most scholars, the appearance of the Mahairod is most accurately shown in the film of 10,000 BC.

Of all the prehistoric wild cats known to mankind, the American lion is the second most famous after the Smilodon. Lions lived on the territory of modern North and South America, and died out about 11 thousand years ago at the very end of the ice age. Many scientists are convinced that this giant predator was related to today's lion. The weight of an American lion could reach 500 kilograms. There is a lot of controversy about his hunting, but most likely the beast hunted alone.

The most mysterious animal from the entire list was in second place among the largest cats. This tiger is not separate view, most likely, he is a distant relative of the modern tiger. These giants lived in Asia, where they hunted very large herbivores. Everyone knows that today tigers are the most major representatives of the cat family, but such large tigers as in prehistoric times, today is not even close. The Pleistocene tiger was unusually large, and according to the remains found, it even lived in Russia.

The most famous representative of the cat family of prehistoric times. Smilodon had huge teeth like sharp knives and a muscular body with short legs. His body slightly resembled that of a modern bear, although he did not have the clumsiness that a bear has. The amazingly folded body of a predator allowed him to run with high speed even over long distances. Smilodons died out about 10 thousand years ago, which means that they lived at the same time as humans, and perhaps even hunted them. Scientists believe that smilodons attacked the victim from an ambush.

Mammoth Columbus- one of the largest mammoths that ever existed on earth, a relative of the more common woolly mammoth. The remains of Colombian mammoths were found on the way from Canada to Mexico. famous woolly mammoths left their traces in North Asia, Russia, Canada. Their main difference is that the Colombian mammoths were practically not covered with wool, which brings them closer to modern elephants, and their tusks were much larger than those of woolly mammoths.

The growth of Colombian mammoths was approximately 3-4 m, and the weight reached 5-10 tons. Colombian mammoths are the owners of the largest tusks among the elephant family. 3.5 in length, rounded, incredibly strong, they were used to fight all predators, including humans.

Giant sloths. Today, the sloth is one of the cutest creatures, photos with which are gaining millions of “likes” on social networks. Their ancient ancestors did not seem so charming.

Several species of giant sloths are known. Those that lived in North America were the size of rhinos, and ancient man, perhaps, they often dined. However, the largest of the giant sloths, Megatheria, lived in South Africa about 10 thousand years ago and were no smaller than an elephant. About 6 m from head to tail, weighing 4 tons, with sharp teeth and long nails, sloths seemed to be quite formidable animals. Moreover, there is an assumption that they were predators.

The last species of giant sloths lived on Caribbean Islands about 4.2 thousand years ago.

Gigantopithecus the largest primate ever to stomp the earth. This relative of the orangutans deserved its name: a three-meter animal weighed 500 kg and was huge even for the prehistoric world. Interestingly, Gigantopithecus is very similar to images of the Yeti. True, Gigantopithecus died out 100 thousand years ago. In addition, if then the giant primates did not even think of hiding from people, then it is unlikely that any of them are now hiding in the highlands, scaring tourists under the guise of a Bigfoot.

Gigantopithecus lived on Earth for about 6-9 million years, eating fruits South-East Asia. But with climate change rainforests turned into arid savannas, and Gigantopithecus began to die out from lack of food.

cave hyena reached 1 m in height at the shoulders and weighed from 80 to 100 kg. According to calculations based on the study of fossil remains, the cave hyena was able to knock down a 5-year-old mastodon, which weighed a whole ton.

Cave hyenas lived in packs, sometimes consisting of 30 individuals. This made them stronger hunters: together they could attack a 9-year-old mastodon weighing all 9 tons. Needless to say, a person hardly dreamed of meeting a flock of hungry hyenas.

The population of cave hyenas began to decline 20 thousand years ago and finally disappeared 11-13 thousand years ago. As one of the reasons that influenced the extinction of cave hyenas, scientists suggest the struggle with man for cave space during the last ice age.

Smilodon- an extinct genus of saber-toothed cats, contrary to stereotypes, having little in common with saber-toothed tigers.

Saber-toothed cats first appeared 42 million years ago. There were many species of them, most of which died out before the appearance of man. However, at least two species of saber-toothed cats could be found by primitive man in America. They were the size of modern African lion and weighed like an Amur tiger.

Smilodon was an incredibly strong animal - he could easily attack a mammoth. Smilodon used a special tactic: at first, he waited for prey, approached imperceptibly and quickly attacked.

Despite its "saber-toothed", smilodon among cats does not have the most powerful bite. So, the bite of a modern lion is perhaps three times stronger. But on the other hand, the mouth of the smilodon swung open at 120 degrees, which is half the capabilities of the current lion.

dire wolf- no, “terrible” is not an epithet here, but the name of a species of wolves that lived in North America. Dire wolves appeared about a quarter of a million years ago. They are similar to modern gray wolves, but much more hardy. Their length reached 1.5 m, and their weight was about 90 kg.

The dire wolf's bite force was 29% stronger than the bite force gray wolf. Their main diet was horses. Like many other carnivores, the dire wolf became extinct 10,000 years ago during the last ice age.

american lion, despite the name "lion", was closer to the modern panther than to the lion. American lions inhabited the territory of North America about 330 thousand years ago.

The American lion is the largest known wild cat in history. On average, an individual weighed about 350 kg, was incredibly strong and easily attacked a bison. So even the group primitive people would not be thrilled to meet one of the American lions. Like previous companions, American lions became extinct during the last ice age.

Megalania- the largest of known to science lizards - lived in Australia and began to disappear about 50 thousand years ago, that is, at the same time as a person began to populate the continent.

The size of megalania is the subject of scientific debate. According to some data, its length reached 7 m, but there is an opinion that average length was about 3.5 m. But not only the size is important: megalania was poisonous lizard. If her victim did not die from blood loss, then she certainly died from poisoning - in any case, hardly anyone managed to escape alive from the mouth of megalania.

short-faced bear- one of those types of bears that he could encounter primitive. The ancient bear was about 1.5 meters in the shoulders, but as soon as he stood on hind legs, how he stretched up to 4 m. If this does not sound scary enough, then add this detail: thanks to long limbs, the bear developed speeds of up to 64 km / h. And this means that Hussein Bolt, whose record is 45 km / h, would have easily got him for dinner.

Giant short-faced bears were one of the largest carnivores in North America. They appeared about 800 thousand years ago, and died out 11.6 thousand years ago.

quincans, land crocodiles appeared quite a long time ago - 1.6 million ago in Australia. The giant ancestors of crocodiles reached 7 m in length. Unlike crocodiles, Quinkans lived and hunted on land. In this they were helped by long powerful legs to catch up with prey at great distances, and sharp teeth. The fact is that crocodiles use their teeth mainly to capture the victim, drag her water and drown. The teeth of the land Quincan were intended for killing, they dug in and literally cut the victim. Quincans died out about 50 thousand years ago, having lived for about 10 thousand years side by side with primitive man.