National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Ancient Lion With "Bolt Cutter" Jaws: Best Killer Ever?


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This digital 3-D simulation of an extinct marsupial lion Thylacoleo carnifex (top) compared with a modern-day African lion (bottom) shows that the ancient lion could deliver a bite far more lethal than any carnivore living or extinct.

The ancient predator would ambush prey many times its own size and weight, and rapidly dispatch its victim with devastating jaws.

Image courtesy Stephen Wroe/University of New South Wales