New Saber-Toothed Predator Discovered in Argentina Challenges Extinction Timelines
A new species of saber-toothed predator, named Pampaluctor calibar, has been identified from fossil fragments found in Argentina. This discovery challenges previous beliefs about the extinction timeline of thylacosmilids, a group of meat-eating metatherians that includes modern-day marsupials. The fossil, dating to the end of the Pliocene or early Pleistocene epoch, suggests that this lineage survived longer than previously assumed and coexisted with early 'northern newcomers' in South America. Paleontologist Eric del Campo, lead author of the study published in Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, noted that the animal was massive, weighing about 100 kg (220 pounds), making it one of the largest known mammalian predators in South America. Its thick neck bones and heavily muscled front legs indicate it was an ambush hunter that pinned down prey with brute force.
