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Look: Ancient cat-like creature was one of the first hypercarnivores on Earth

Long before the saber-tooth tiger, there was Diegoaelurus.

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Originally Published: 
An ancient cat-like creature standing on a log over a river

Paul Souders/Photodisc/Getty Images

Wolves, polar bears, and lions are some of Earth’s many hypercarnivores meaning that meat makes up more than 70 percent of their diets.

But tens of millions of years ago, mammals that mostly subsisted on flesh didn’t exist.

It took considerable time for mammals to evolve the right teeth and digestive systems to become hypercarnivores.

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