The big cats of the Miocene possessed not only a fearsome tusks of large size, but they also preyed, during hunting, the strength of their front legs, much larger than other carnivorous mammals of the era. Thus emerges from the comparative analysis of fossils that has made the paleontologist Julie Meachen, University of Durham (Great Britain), which publishes its findings this week in the scientific journal Paleobiology. Meachen points out that not only the famous Tigers saber-tooth had some fearsome tusks, but also the Nimravidae and Barbourofelidae the had very similar hunting weapons. These two groups of carnivorous mammals had fangs as knives and her arms had an extraordinary power. The funny thing is that both of these features were presented repeatedly at a certain point in the evolutionary history and in different predators, giving them an advantage when it comes to catch and kill their prey. The researcher has discovered that their long front teeth, even if they seem formidable, were in fact more fragile that today have the cats. The Tigers Smilodon Saber-toothed, compensated the probability of fracture of teeth with a few bones in the Forelegs exceptionally thick in comparison with their feline cousins.

Maechen tusks and bones in hundreds of specimens in museums throughout North America measured and studied those of 13 species of current cats. To compare the size of teeth and arms, discovered that each group converged gradually in the same solution: to longer tusks, more robust front legs. The conselleria Samuel Juarez directs argues its proposal which enters phase of public exposure when it receives the go-ahead from the Galician Committee of hunting on the need to ensure generational and promote the hobby to an activity that the Galician Government sees key to manage populations of different species. Can’t manage the means of a more efficient way than with hunting weapons, said Samuel Juarez, who also stressed the importance of this practice, which is not only a fun activity for the revitalisation of rural areas. In fact, according to rural areas, this activity moved 94 million euros a year in Galicia. Today, as explained from Rural Environment, six of every ten holders of licenses for hunting in the community exceeds 40 years. The commitment to introduce new blood into preserves yesterday caused the rejection of the environmentalist Association Amigos da Terra, which sees the measure containing the draft Bill as a serious symptom of institutional and social disease.