Mummified Homotherium cub found in Siberia

[Brocc21]

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-79546-1

Beautifully preserved sabre tooth cub hailing from Eastern Russia. Incredible find.

[DinoToyForum]

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-79546-1

Beautifully preserved sabre tooth cub hailing from Eastern Russia. Incredible find.

That is really something, wow!

[Shane]

Scrolled to the photos and was shocked, I did not expect it to look THAT good.

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Whoa, it really looks like it could've just been sleeping! Does anyone know- is that its natural fur color or does the permafrost degrade/alter it over time?

[GnastyGnorc]

Whoa, it really looks like it could've just been sleeping! Does anyone know- is that its natural fur color or does the permafrost degrade/alter it over time?

I think color gradually degrades during mummification. But it should still give us some clues on colors and pattern.

[Torvosaurus]

It also depends on the mummy; how far along it was in the decaying process when it froze, what other chemicals were intact/next to the body, how quickly it froze, etc. If you look at the two cave lion cubs pulled out of the permafrost in 2017-2018, they look like they could have been picked up on the African savannah once they were cleaned up. Other creatures, however, have just a few patches of hair when they completed freezing. Most creatures are somewhere in between.

Torvo

[Saarlooswolfhound]

Thanks for your thoughts G @GnastyGnorc and T @Torvosaurus . My personal experience and understanding is closer to human mummies. I know bog mummies the hair often will change quite dramatically compared to a more "traditional" Egyptian style mummy for instance. I am quite unfamiliar with the specific conditions of a permafrost mummified mammal. I will have to do some more reading!

[Faelrin]

While it is just a cub, I wonder if this is going to change how reconstructions are done of the adults, or relatives like Smilodon? Like will the exposed saber teeth reconstructions still be favored, or will they now be depicted covered in lips, like this cub here (if not like the extant, yet unrelated clouded leopard with similarly large teeth in proportion to its skull)?

In any case I'm so glad they finally found a mummy of Homotherium after all this time, even if it is of a cub. This is a revolutionary find, and one I've long waited for. Perhaps one day they'll find an adult, or hopefully.

Edit: Even weirder is that this cub lacks a carpal pad, which is something widely seen in extant cats, and also dogs. I wonder if this is widespread for this species, or an anomaly? Even the digits pads are shaped in a vastly different way from extant cats (more square shaped).

Edit 2: I forgot about this paper entirely that supported their teeth behind lips (at least for Homotherium anyways):

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379122001020

[andrewsaurus rex]

Big news indeed.  Really wow.  Given the great condition of the mummy, it must have been preserved quicky after death, which would indicate a high level of accuracy to its appearance in life, no?

[Concavenator]

Certainly one of the most impressive fossils I've ever seen, period. WOW. 

[stargatedalek]

Big news indeed.  Really wow.  Given the great condition of the mummy, it must have been preserved quicky after death, which would indicate a high level of accuracy to its appearance in life, no?

Yes, but it's hard to know how much we can gleam from a cub.

[Carnoking]

The earth still has such stories to share with us.

[Pliosaurking]

What a beautifully persevered mummy!