Homotherium

homotherium latidens | procreate | 2024

In November of 2024, an exciting paper was released about the discovery of a mummified cub of the saber tooth cat, Homotherium latidens. This is the first mummified material of a saber tooth ever discovered. This scene depicts the location the specimen was found in Yakutia, Russia. It's a tough time for young cats in the late Pleistocene of Russia. A 3-week old homotherium cub doesn't make it, as his siblings go on to learn to play and fight for the privilege to grow up. His mother makes a last stop by his body before moving on. However, his short life is significant in ways no one could picture when a strange primate finds his body preserved in permafrost 30,000 years later.

Using the recently described homotherium cub, l depicted their coats as mostly solid with some lighter patterning, but slightly darker (esp. in the adult) to account for changes in life stages/ degradation of melanin over time. They have little chin beards based on the tuft of fur seen on the mummy's chin.