Megantereon adroveri from the Early Pleistocene of Taurida Cave, Crimea, and the European Lineage of Dirk-toothed Cats

Recent field surveys performed in the newly-discovered Taurida Cave (Crimea, Russia, Late Villafranchian, 1.8-1.5 Ma) enabled us to unearth dentognathic remains of the dirk-toothed cat Megantereon. Here we describe in detail the recovered remains further comparing it anatomically and biometrically with coeval Eurasian and African sites. The performed analysis suggests the inclusion of the Taurida remains in the hypodigm of the Villafranchain European species Megantereon adroveri, a medium-sized saber-toothed cat poorly known in Europe as a consequence of the scarcity and fragmentary nature of the known remains. Our results and the putative transitional characters displayed by the Taurida specimen support the idea put forward by previous authors of a continuous European lineage of dirk-toothed cats.

Automated summary

Recent field surveys in the Taurida Cave in Crimea, Russia, unearthed remains of the dirk-toothed cat Megantereon, which were compared anatomically and biometrically with other sites. The analysis suggests the Taurida remains belong to the Villafranchain European species Megantereon adroveri, supporting the idea of a continuous European lineage of dirk-toothed cats.