Machairodus

Machairodus is a genus of large machairodont or ''saber-toothed cat'' that lived in Africa and Eurasia during the Middle to Late Miocene, from 12.5 million to 8.7 million years ago. It is the animal from which the subfamily Machairodontinae gets its name. The genus currently consists of four named species: M. alberidae, M. aphanistus, M. laskerevi, and M. robinsoni. The genus is currently usually placed as one of the most basal members of the tribe Homotherini, and the ancestor of later members of the tribe, such as Amphimachairodus.

Machairodus

Jonathan Chen · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
MachairodontiniPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Felidae
Life habit
scansorialPBDB, for Felidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 10 million years on record.

The record covers at least 11.63 Mya to 774 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 129 ka.

Oligocene — about 0 of 101 occurrencesMiocene — about 76 of 101 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 20 of 101 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 5 of 101 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 5 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 5 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 6 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 10 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 11 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 11 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 11 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 11 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 9 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 4 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 5 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 5 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence1.6–785 ka Mya — about 1 occurrence785 ka–0 Mya — about 2 occurrences11.63 Mya774 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

101 occurrences of Machairodus on record, most of them in the Miocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

101 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

26 formations

Wembere-Manonga — 3.88°S, 33.72°EWembere-Manonga — 3.09°S, 33.73°EVarswater — 32.98°S, 18.15°ESahabi — 30.14°N, 20.75°EAsh Hollow — 41.70°N, 103.10°WPanaca — 37.80°N, 114.30°WMcKay — 45.50°N, 118.80°WPinole Tuff — 37.97°N, 122.25°WQuiburis — 32.50°N, 110.60°WRancho Viejo Beds — 21.03°N, 100.75°WMuluk — 30.42°N, 30.25°EMakapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°ETavildara — 38.50°N, 69.50°EBeglia — 34.00°N, 8.00°EBanta Shut-In — 29.27°N, 103.05°WAlfambra — 40.35°N, 2.60°WAgha Jari — 34.48°N, 44.63°EXianshuihe — 43.65°N, 112.66°EPoate — 35.71°N, 111.66°EAdu-Asa — 10.32°N, 40.25°ECromer Forest Bed — 52.91°N, 1.36°EOgallala — 37.20°N, 99.90°WYatagan — 37.34°N, 28.24°EChersonian — 47.25°N, 28.69°EGar El Muluk — 30.37°N, 30.32°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Machairodus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 2 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 70 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Machairodus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Machairodus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,186 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 95 sites for Machairodus, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

66 references

Each of the 101 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 54 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Machairodus

Credit
Jonathan Chen
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Laser scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Machairodus catocopis · AMNH:F:AM:148006

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMachairodontini through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Kaup 1833