What has 8x-vision eyes and can run 60 mph ???? Hmmmm...It's the American Pronghorn Antelope. Pronghorns are amazing animals.
The old Sabre Tooth Cat(Smilodon Californicus)was about twice as heavy as a big modern African Lion - but was about a foot shorter. The Sabre Cat was not so good at chasing game - but was great at ambushing game. The Sabre Cat was like a big muscular Bobcat - but there were significant differences.
The Bobcat is a solitary hunter. A male bobcat will have a range of 50 miles and a female will have a range of about 20. The bobcats will ambush from trees and from boulders...and bobcats will feed on small game such as rabbits and squirrels - but they will also tackle a small deer! The Sabre Cat was not a solitary hunt , but likely lived in a kind of pride. The sabre cat had huge 'sabre teeth' and a mouth that could open 90degrees. The cat even had a vampirish quality where it could take in a little blood(not through its teeth but through a channel in its gums...)and still breath as it hung onto a big mammoth or a wooly rhino... Sabre Cat fossils often show bone damage and healing that would have required the support of other Sabre Cats... What does all this have to do with Pronghorns? When the climate changed 10000 yrs ago or so...it destroyed the ambush friendly habitat of the Sabre Cat and made it harder and harder for Mammoth and other big mammals to graze - and for Sabre Cats to ambush them. Only the cougars,pumas and bobcats were versatile enough to survive.
Sabre Cats never could catch enough Pronghorn. The Pronghorn was made to outrun Sabre Cats! The 8x vision and 60mph speed of a pronghorn - is spectacular! Respect the ol' Pronghorn! They won! They beat the Sabre Cat!
It is ironic that a .308 Win is more than big enough to handle a Pronghorn - but might have been too little for a Sabre Cat.
June 19, 2006, 09:46 PM
