Sabre-toothed ‘kitten’ mummy unearthed in Siberia is first of its kind

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. courtesy Prof. Alexey V. Lopatin ‘At a loss for words’ Paleontologist Jack Tseng, who studies the anatomy of extinct mammals and was not involved in the discovery, was “at a loss for words” when he considered “the treasure trove of information that could come out of this singular discovery,” he told CNN. “I don’t know if other paleontologists’ minds are as blown as mine, but it’s like reality changes now that we’ve seen this.” The cub was preserved in permafrost near the Badyarikha River in the northeast of Yakutia, and Yakutian diggers found the mummy in 2020 while prospecting for mammoth tusks under the supervision of Yakutian paleontologists, Lopatin told CNN in an email. courtesy Prof. Alexey V. Lopatin Ancient cat origins Along with the partial mummy, articulated bones of the cub’s pelvis and hind limbs were also found locked in ice. courtesy Prof. Alexey V. Lopatin Until now, scientists have hypothesized about sabre-toothed cat anatomy by scanning fossils and digitally modeling the animals’ muscles in 3D, but that doesn’t compare to seeing one of those limbs “in the flesh,” Tseng said.