Comments on a small sabretooth cat in the Abismo Ponta de Flecha Cave, Vale do Ribeira, southeastern Brazil

Abstract

Vale do Ribeira, in southeastern Brazil, is known for its many caves that contain osteological material, including remains that have been referred to several extinct species. The sabertooth cat Smilodon populator was a large predator that inhabited South America during the Quaternary. A specimen that is represented in the Abismo Ponta de Flecha Cave by small forelimb bones (metacarpals and phalanges) is commented here. The metacarpals display morphological characteristics of S. populator, but are smaller than those of S. fatalis and larger than those of S. gracilis. This specimen is amongst the smallest ever found specimen of S. populator and is comparable in size to an adult lion.

Um Megatheriidae Owen, 1843 do Abismo Ponta de Flecha (Quaternário), Vale do Ribeira de Iguape, sudeste do Brasil

“…O Abismo Ponta de Flecha possui uma grande variedade de vertebrados típicos da fauna atual e apenas alguns poucos espécimes foram atribuídos a espécies extintas da megafauna pleistocênica (CHAHUD, 2021;2022a;CHAHUD et al, 2022;2023b;2023c;2024a).…”