Our ascendant may have defended themselves against giant cats with spears , free-base on newly excavated archeological grounds . Several 300,000 - yr - old feline tooth , along with a piece of weapon bone , were uncovered at a site in Germany already renowned by archaeologists – the old evidence of humans using fizgig was found here . The authors of the study , print in theJournal of Human Evolution , say that this provides the first concrete evidence that the sabre - toothed computed tomography was living in Europe alongside recent human ancestors .
The sabre - toothed cats were a group of predatory mammalian characterized by their long , curving , sharp teeth . These cat - similar creatures , which were once dissipate across the planet , were not that close related to modern cat , from the domesticated variant to the African lion . TheNimravidaefamily are the old saber - toothed Caterpillar do it , having evolve 42 million old age ago and go out by around 7.2 million years ago .
The latest discovery – which is 300,000 years sometime – place our closely related out full cousin , Homo heidelbergensis , directly beside these fearsome carnivores . Five teeth and a bone from two disjoined cats were found in the former coal mine in Schöningen , near to Hanover . The sabre - toothed cat fragment belonged toHomotherium latidens , a predator about the size of a male African lion , whose teeth are say to more closely resemble ascimitarthan a saber . This species choke out 28,000 year ago .
The feline - like humerus ivory also appears to have been work into abasic power hammer , which is the first of its kind anywhere in the public . The spear antecedently found at the site were thought to be used for hunting herbivores , like deer , for food , but the presence of the saber - toothed computed axial tomography remain implies they also had other subroutine .
Dr. Jordi Serangeli , an archaeologist at the University of Tubingen and lead writer of the paper , reported in thestudythat “ The discovery illustrate the potential day - to - daytime challenge that the Schöningen hominins would have faced and suggests that the wooden spears were not necessarily only used for search , but possibly also as a weapon system for self - defense . ”
As ominous as these enormous cats were , grounds like this suggests they were not the only top predator around at the time . Dr. Mark Roberts , an archaeologist at University College London who was n’t involved in the study , toldBBC Newsthat “ hominins ( man and their ancestors ) were already the top predator at this time ; they were able to pop and butcher … large brute such as rhino , bison , horse and gargantuan deer . ”
epitome credit rating : prospect of the tooth of the saber - toothed CT remains found at the internet site . Serangeli et al./Journal of Human Evolution
He is less certain that human ascendent around the time were able-bodied to belt down sabre - toothed cats , saying that the skeletal material at the situation is not stark enough . Regardless , the presence of these feline - like marauder would have providedHomo heidelbergensiswith some stiff competition for resource .
The last survive saber - toothed cats died out 11,700 year ago during the series ofQuaternary extinction events , of which there are many potential causes , include a chop-chop changing mood , the spread of disease , the overkill of apex predators or giant herbivores ( both due to hunting by humans and closely related mintage ) , and even possibly a swarm of comets .
Meanwhile , the African radical ofHomo heidelbergensisevolved intoHomo sapiens130,000 class ago , who then migrate into Europe and Asia in a huge migration undulation concisely afterwards . The pre - existing EurasianHomo heidelbergensisgroup – those fighting off theH. latidensat the site in Germany – evolved into Neanderthals , who eventually became out .
