r/Naturewasmetal

Source

Apparently these prehistoric tigers had extra sharp carnassials to feed super quickly in case cheetahs etc showed up to steal their kill :B

https://x.com/hellbendermodel/status/2105802585764663732

Known from a fairly complete holotype skeleton from the upper Oldman Formation of Alberta (previously attributed to Daspletosaurus) and two additional specimens from the lower Dinosaur Park (previously attributed to Gorgosaurus), dating to 76.7 to 76.3 mya, Tromerosaurus overtly resembles an albertosaurine but also shows morphological characteristics of tyrannosaurines. As such, it's been recovered as either a basal albertosaurine or a basal tyrannosaurine (a transitional form between albertosaurines and the robust tyrannosaurines). This find could rewrite what we know about the evolution of the Late Cretaceous tyrannosaurids of Laramidia. If it is indeed an albertosaurine, it could suggest that the gracile tyrants aren't a ghost lineage (given that some purported tyrannosaurines like Lythronax date to as far back as 82 mya, near the Santonian-Campanian boundary) but a more recent split from the robust forms during the lower Campanian.

Hope y’all like it.🙂

Artwork: iamnot_ninodev 
Description: adi_smilus

The intricate balance of life & death remains eloquently woven within the ancient ecosystems of Ice Age California.

As the primeval landscape of Santa Monica shifts from a humid autumn towards a temperate winter, flocks of passenger pigeons & monarch butterflies migrate above and across the forest canopy.

At the edge of the forest floor, a young female Homotherium ekes out a meager living for the sake of her newborn cubs. Only a few weeks old, their diets have now begun to shift towards carnivory. Thus, the mother’s ability to grant life parallels her capacity to deliver death.
Their recent meal, a black-tailed jackrabbit, has now been rendered to fur and bone by ravenous dermestid beetles and a yellow-billed magpie seeking insulation for its nest. While harsh and turbulent, this dappled grove of coast live oak has served as a refuge for the scimitaress and her cubs over the last few days…until now.

Alerted by the alarm calls of flat-headed peccaries and a dwarf pronghorn, the mother grows terrifyingly aware of an existential threat: Smilodon.
A lone sabretooth has prowled this stretch of woodland for over 9 years, securing it as his territory. Scars across his rosetted form betray violent encounters with rival coalitions, aggressive herbivores, and tenacious packs of dire wolves, earning his rank as a deadly veteran in this unforgiving prehistoric wilderness.
Raising his maw above polypore-laden tree trunks, with Clark’s condor circling overhead, the old male has now caught the scent of another large predator in his midst: the scimitaress.

Defensively armed, the mother’s instincts are heightened for these very moments, ready to risk her life to protect her legacy. Will the sabretooth execute an agonistic demise or will the scimitaress and her cubs live to see another day?

Yet again, the delicate dance between life & death perpetuates, betting against one another as two sides of the same coin, telling a tale 20,000 years in the making.