Saber-Toothed Predator Unveils Insights into the "Great Dying" Extinction Event.

Fossils of Inostrancevia, a saber-toothed predator the size of a tiger, were discovered in South Africa's Karoo Basin, 7,000 miles from its original habitat in Russia. The creature filled a gap left by extinct top predators in a far-flung ecosystem before becoming extinct itself, indicating that apex predators could serve as early indicators of impending mass extinctions. Researchers draw parallels between these prehistoric patterns and current ecological crises, underscoring the importance of understanding ancient extinction events to predict and possibly mitigate today's biodiversity loss.