The largest carnivorous mammal on land, dubbed the 'mobile meat grinder'

We all know that the largest terrestrial carnivore on Earth that exists today is the polar bear, the Kodiak bear, which can weigh up to 1 ton.

But the largest predator in the Cretaceous is Tyrannosaurus Rex - Tyrannosaurus, 13m long and 4m high, weighing up to 9 tons, but they are reptiles rather than mammals.

The prehistoric animal was identified by scientists as Simbakubwa kutokaafrika, which means the great lion from Africa in the local Swahili language.

By the end of the Cretaceous, however, Tyrannosaurus Rex's rule on Earth was over and mammals entered the golden age of development.

Recently, paleontologist of Kenya National Museum - Matthew Borths stumbled across a specimen of a giant ancient lion, which weighs 1,500 kg, equivalent to the size of a galaxy. horses and they are known as giant meat grinders.

Matthew Borths stumbled across a portion of the jaw, skull and ribs, including the massive teeth, in a drawer of the Kenya National Museum.

Part of the jaw, skull and ribs, including the massive teeth, sits in a chest of drawers at the Kenya National Museum. But Matthew Borths realized that the specimens were marked as Ice Age animals, so they were curious about how they could survive this cold period.

Judging by the size and sharpness of their teeth, these animals are at the top of the food chain and can hunt large herbivores like elephants and hippos today.

After reviewing the records, he discovered that the fossils were discovered by a team of researchers and Nancy Stevens, a paleontologist at Ohio University in Kenya dozens of years ago, but they were busy at that time. searching for prehistoric primates should fossils be set aside and misidentified the dates of these fossils.

In fact, the length of the jaw bone is larger than the skull size of modern lions.

In addition, the team led by Matthew Borths and Stevens examined and analyzed these fossil samples and found that this was a predator living 22 million years ago and perhaps they were mammals. The largest terrestrial carnivore ever lived on our planet.

Reconstruction images of Simbakubwa kutokaafrika.

According to data from the predator database, the researchers believe that this is a giant prehistoric lion and named it Simbakubwa kutoaafrika , which means the lion is from Asia. Africa.

But this animal is not a close relative of modern lions, other large cats or mammals born today.

Simbakubwa is the earliest member of the Hyaenodonta family Hyainailouridae - an extinct group of mammal predators living in Africa.

Their jaws are much larger than modern adult lions.Scientists determined that the fossil belonged to a young Simbakubwa because teeth had no signs of abrasion.

The researchers estimate their weight to be between 1308kg - 1554kg and about 2.5m long, much bigger than today's largest terrestrial predator - her polar bears are bigger than modern lions. many times today. After the dinosaur's extinction, Simbakubwa kutoaafrika went through a golden period of 45 million years.

Their large fangs and molars make it easy to tear flesh and crush bones from other large mammals.