This animal would have been reluctant to meet in the dark: In Kenya, researchers have discovered one of the largest carnivorous mammals that ever lived on Earth. The lion-like creature was probably up to 1500 kilograms and "possibly larger than a polar bear," researchers said around Matthew Borths of Ohio University in the United States.
In his lifetime, the animal was the predominant predator of its habitat and was likely to hunt animals resembling today's elephants and hippos. It lived in Eurasia, North America, and parts of Africa and the Arab world about 23 million years ago.
The new species was baptized Simbakubwa kutokaafrika, as the scientists write in the "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology". "Simba" in the East African language means Swahili "lion", "kubwa" means "big" and "kutokaafrika" "from Africa".
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However, the animal is not fully preserved, it has been identified only from an incomplete lower jaw and teeth and bone fragments. These were excavated decades ago at the Meswa Bridge site in western Kenya. Simbakubwa kutokaafrika was not related to today's wildcats, but belonged to an extinct mammal group, the researchers said.
For a long time, scientists thought the find was one of a smaller species. However, the new research at the National Museum of Nairobi showed that it is a new species. The teeth and bone fragments probably came from a young male animal. The age of the researchers make it clear that the teeth are less worn.
The scientists believe that the size of the animal had to do with its environment. Changes in nature during this time led to larger herbivores living on Earth. These in turn could be hunted by larger carnivores. Big carnivores like Simbakubwa existed for several million years.