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When was the saber-tooth cat alive and for how long? |
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Answer
The term saber-toothed cat describes numerous cat-like species that lived during various parts of the Cenozoic and evolved their saber-toothed characteristics entirely independently. The saber-tooth morphology is an excellent example of convergent evolution as it occurred repeatedly and independently in at least four distinct mammalian groups.
All saber-tooth mammals lived between 9,000 and 33.7 million years ago, but the evolutionary lines that lead to the various saber-tooth genera started to diverge much earlier.
The lineage that led to Thylacosmilus was the first to split off, in the late Cretaceous. It is a marsupial, and thus more closely related to kangaroos and opossums than the felines. The creodonts diverged next, and then the nimravids, before the blossoming of the truly feline saber-tooths.
First answer by Ranger22. Last edit by Ranger22. Contributor trust: 3080 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 37 [recommend question]
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