Saber-Toothed Cats (Carnivora, Felidae, Machairodoninae) from the Lower Pleistocene of the Taurida Cave, Crimea

A. V. Lavrova,*, D. O. Gimranovb,c, D. B. Startsevd, and B. A. Zaitseve

a Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 117647 Russia

b Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, 620144 Russia

c Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, 620075 Russia

d Vernadsky Crimean Federal University, Simferopol, 295033 Russia

e Karpinsky Russian Geological Research Institute, St. Petersburg, 199106 Russia

Correspondence to: *e-mail: lavrov_av@inbox.ru

Received 17 February, 2020

Abstract—This paper describes the maxillaries of adult specimens of saber-toothed cats Homotherium crenatidens (Fabrini, 1890) and Megantereon sp. from the Taurida Cave (Crimea, Late Villafranchian; age, 1.8–1.5 Ma). We discuss the morphometric variability in the morphology of the upper carnassials and the length of the С1–Р3 diastema.

Keywords: Homotherium, Megantereon, Late Villafranchian, Taurida Cave, Crimea, upper carnassial tooth

DOI: 10.1134/S0012496620060034