SMALL SABER-TOOTHED CAT SKULL . ...

Description

SMALL SABER-TOOTHED CAT SKULL
Dinictis squalidens
Oligocene
Brule Formation, Shannon Co., South Dakota
Saber-toothed cats first appeared in the fossil record 38-34 million years ago and Dinictis was one of the earliest. It was a swift predator and member of the Nimravidae family, the "false" saber-toothed cats, similar though not related to the famous Smilodon. Their hyper-developed canine teeth were essentially finely-serrated knives specialized for killing or feeding. Scientists believe that elongated sabers were specialized for severing either the windpipe or jugular of a prey animal after they were brought down, allowing the cat to administer a swift "coup de grace" to immobilize its prey. Also, solitary hunters had no "back-up" help from a pack to help secure the meal, so it was extremely important that the prey was not allowed to escape. This fossil cat, Dinictis, was definitely a solitary hunter with a lifestyle very similar to that of a modern leopard. Because these cats were solitary hunters with very large territories, their fossil remains are much rarer than those of herd or pack animals. With a natural ecosystem prey-to-predator ratio of 50 to 1 (which has been established fairly consistently throughout the fossil record and even to the present day), fossilized carnivores are 50 times rarer than herbivores; cats are the rarest of all carnivores, comprising only a percent or two of the total. Thus, a cat fossil is at least a thousand times rarer than that of any of his prey animals. This explains why cat fossils in general are so rare, with any specific cat type even rarer.
As a result, the current specimen is especially important, in excellent condition with all of the teeth and sabers original and 15% restoration to the bone, primarily on the top of the braincase encompassing the frontal and parietal bones. It measures 6 inches long by 4 inches wide by 3¼ inches high and is mounted on a custom-made ebonized steel stand.

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