For as long as humans have existed, we’ve shared the world with cats. Some we welcomed into our homes, others we kept at arm’s length for fear of becoming dinner.
When did cats first appear?
Originating in Africa between 30 million years ago (Mya) and 25 million years ago, cats marked their territory long before we did. Since then, they have explored five of the seven continents and established themselves as apex predators in a range of habitats from tropical rainforests to mountain ranges.
As a group, cats – or Felidae – are known for their retractable claws, prominent canines, striking fur patterns and powerful, slender bodies. These characteristics are what make cats 'cats’ and are shared by all 41 species today. And About 120 of their extinct relatives.
Top 10 Prehistoric Cats
Many prehistoric cats took these traits to extremes, evolving into stealthy killers capable of slaying giants like mammoths.
Proailurus – the first cat
No larger than today’s domestic cats, weighing just 9 kg, Proilurus It is considered the first 'true’ cat and the common ancestor of all existing cats.
It first appeared in Eurasia ~30 mya, at a time when the continent’s grasslands expanded and its tropical forests retreated. Its fossil remains have been found in Spain and Mongolia, suggesting it had a very large range.
Proilurus Built like a cougar with a long tail, big eyes and sharp claws and teeth. Like modern cheetahs, it is thought to have been at least partially arboreal, hunting on forest floors before dragging its prey to the safety of the canopy. Its prey consisted of small, deer-like creatures and early rodents.
Smilodon – The Saber Tooth Cat
Until 10,000 years ago this infamous predator hunted the same frost-covered, American prairies as our Ice Age ancestors, competing with them for mammoth, mastodon and bison carcasses.
Smilodon More powerfully built than any living cat, it resembles a bear with its thick hind legs and long, powerful forelimbs. The 28 cm long, protruding canines that gave it its name made it a specialized hunter built to ambush and chase large prey, as today’s big cats do.
Known from hundreds of fossils taken from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, USA. Smilodon Maybe there is The The most studied prehistoric cat. These natural traps killed thousands of animals during the Ice Age SmilodonBut thankfully they preserved their bones for us to study.
Cave lion – England’s last big cat
Today’s big cats are mostly found in declining habitats in Africa, Asia and South America, but during the Ice Age their close relatives, cave lions, roamed across Europe, reaching as far north as England.
These lions (Panthera spelealooked similar to modern lions (Panther Leo) and is estimated to have split about 500,000 years ago.
Cave lions prey on a variety of large mammals, from reindeer to bear cubs. They will seek out the latter’s dens.
Our interactions with these big cats are documented in many stunning cave paintings found in France. Many ivory and clay figurines depicting cave lions have been found at sites across Europe.
Homotherium – The Scimitar Tooth Gate
Closely related to the saber tooth cat, Homotherium Part of a subfamily of big cats that, despite having no living descendants, was incredibly successful and widespread, with nearly 70 species spanning five continents. Homotherium was debatable The The most successful member of this subfamily ranged from Africa to North America for about four million years.
Compared to its close relative SmilodonCanines Homotherium It was remarkably small (~10cm) and, interestingly, polar. It had longer hind legs SmilodonIt is best suited for running prey down.
These adaptations, combined with genetic studies, have shown Homotherium Being so social, researchers have suggested they hunt in packs.
In a cave in Texas, many Homotherium They were found among the remains of 400 young mammoths, leaving no question as to what they were preying on.
Chimbagupwa – Big lion
Although its name translates to 'big lion’ in Swahili, this large predator was not a big cat, but a hynodon – a distinct group from a shared ancestor millions of years ago before felines became 'cats’.
It lived ~23 mya in Africa and looked like a tiger, it was significantly larger and, according to estimates, would have weighed 1,300 kg – approximately 900 kg heavier than the largest tiger ever recorded.
big lionUnlike other prehistoric animals, not found in the field. Instead, it was discovered in a long-neglected museum drawer by a student. Scientists say the fossils found are multiple jawbones complete with some vicious-looking, self-sharpening teeth designed to effortlessly cut through the tough meat of its prey – including rhinoceroses and early elephants.
Myracinonyx – American cheetah
This large cat looked like a cross between a cheetah and a cougar, and although it was more closely related to the latter, it is thought to have lived much like the former, hunting small, nimble herbivores such as mountain goats and pronghorns on the grassland plains.
Miracinonics Lived in North America ~2.5 mya to 16,000 years ago. It is 85 cm tall, weighs 70 kg and has a body length of over 2.5 m. It wasn’t as fast as a modern cheetah, but its body was still built for speed.
Its natural prey, pronghorns, still live in North America and continue to exhibit adaptations that some scientists believe they have evolved to surpass. MiracinonicsLike their large lungs, light bones and cushioned, shock-absorbing toes.
Tinictis – the stray cat
Part of a group known as „False saber tooth cats”, After receiving It is not a 'true’ cat and lived a few million years before the first cat. Proilurus. After receiving A nimravid and closely related to cats, but essentially, part of its own family.
It looked a lot like a modern cheetah, with its low, slender body, but it had remarkably short legs and feet. It is believed After receiving They walked on flat feet, not on their toes like cats do.
After receiving Lived in North America from the late Eocene to early Miocene (~37-20 mya), hunting small, deer-like creatures in scrub and open forests. As its habitat disappeared and was replaced by grasslands in the Miocene, it was forced to compete with many other early cats, which were better adapted to a savanna-style life.
Xenosmilus – Shark tooth cat
Of the approximately 70 species of saber-toothed cats, Xenosmilus Perhaps most unusual. It had such short, strong hind legs Smilodonand slightly elongated, serrated canines Homotherium. The rest of its teeth were also sharpened and set into a cat-like bite, like a cat. Shark fish. It allowed Xenosmilus Its teeth are fully engaged and cut straight through the prey when biting down.
Some scientists think so Xenosmilus Predators may have used a 'bite and retreat’ strategy, inflicting devastating wounds on their prey before retreating to bleed them out.
Like its cousins Smilodon And Homotherium, Xenosmilus They hunted small and large herbivores that roamed the grasslands of North America. It lived from ~2 mya to about 300,000 years ago.
Pseudelurus – The Intrepid Explorer
About 10 million years after the first cat, ProilurusIts successor established a foothold in Eurasia, PseudoleurusWandered into North America, ending a period in the fossil record known as the „Cat Gap” – a seven-million-year-long period (~25-18 mya) in which cats and cat-like animals seemingly 'disappeared’ from the continent.
PseudoleurusA lynx-sized forest dweller that preyed largely on small, herbivorous mammals, it proliferated in North America and spawned several new groups, including Machairodontinae—the extinct subfamily that includes saber-toothed cats and their relatives—and Pantherinae—the diverse subfamily. Today’s big cats cover it all.
African Wildcat – Domestic Cat
Around the same time that the last saber-toothed cats died out in North America (~10,000 years ago), a few thousand miles away in the Fertile Crescent region of the Middle East, a group of African wildcats settled in a small village.
These cats were accepted by their human neighbors and were soon tamed. There are now more than 50 domesticated cat breeds, all descended from African wildcats.
Among wildcats, the African wildcat – or Libyan cat – Considered friendly and very agreeable to humans. Others, such as the European wildcat (Wild cats), behave like their big cat cousins and prefer to be left alone.
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