In north central Florida there is a sinkhole that local fossil collectors call Hog Heaven. Paleontologists have unearthed the remains of dozens of large wild hogs called peccaries from the site, as well as the skeletons of two saber-toothed cats, all of which died about 1 million years ago. "It looks like the saber-toothed cats were bringing home pork for the kittens," says paleontologist Larry Martin of the University of Kansas.
The cats from Hog Heaven are unique for more than their penchant for pork--they are the first specimens of a new and particularly fearsome species of saber-tooth, bringing the total number of known North American species to three. The new cat, which has not been officially named, combines some of the deadliest features of the other two species. Like Smilodon (the picture-book example of a saber-tooth), it had a powerful, stocky build. "And like Homotherium, it had broad, knifelike ...
