Comments on: "Saber-toothed squirrel" from the dinosaur days

By: Stephen Anderson

Stephen Anderson — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:45:00 +0000

I disbelieve. I’ve never seen one on the Flintstones.

By: Eric Hunting

Eric Hunting — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 04:54:00 +0000

I like how this sort of validates the classic cartoon theory of evolution, where any contemporary animal could be made prehistoric–and comedically menacing–by having ‘saber-tooth’, ‘suarus’, or ‘cave’ added to its name. I’m imagining a small tableau in a dusty corner of some long-in-the-tooth (pun intended) state Museum of Natural History depicting the improbable confrontation of the gigantic (by squirrel standards…) and terrible squirrelasuarus, the sleek and deadly saber-toothed squirrel and the brutish knuckle-dragging cave squirrel.

By: CountZero

CountZero — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:02:00 +0000

First thing I thought was “fuck me, it’s Scrat!”

By: CountZero

CountZero — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:00:00 +0000

Yup.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:59:00 +0000

Is choppers the English term?

As opposed to Serbo-Croatian? I’ve never heard anything but choppers in the US.

By: Rob O'Daniel

Rob O'Daniel — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:45:00 +0000

Must be a predecessor to the honey badger!

By: mrclamo

mrclamo — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:00:00 +0000

It doesn’t stop there. I give you the Saber Tooth Deer:
http://www.awesomeoff.com/entries/saber-toothed-deer-1009.html

By: skeptacally

skeptacally — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:46:00 +0000

That’s the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on! That squirrel’s got a vicious streak a mile wide! It’s a killer!

By: Guest

Guest — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:33:00 +0000

Yes, but was ‘Cronopio dentiacutus’ surrounded by the fossilized remains of a large cache of acorns, and what appears to be a field of faultlines running for miles in every direction, with Scrat as the epicenter? Kinda sad to think he finally ran out of luck.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:50:00 +0000

Will they scurry up to you and take bits of beef jerky from your hand? (May have to “borrow” Percival Dunwoody’s time machine to test this out.)

By: MTBooks

MTBooks — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:05:00 +0000

Is choppers the English term? I only ever hear chompers.

By: awjt

awjt — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 09:51:00 +0000

Yeah, it’s scrat!

By: eryximachus

eryximachus — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:32:00 +0000

They strike me as an ancient version of the Grasshopper Mouse… though they are utterly unrelated.

Grasshopper Mice are predatory field mice whose diet is almost entirely meat and insects. They even howl like tiny wolves to mark their territory :)

By: Art

Art — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:22:00 +0000

We have these same animals on our property!
But they’re cuter with puffy little cheeks and don’t have the large fangs.

By: douglips

douglips — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:00:00 +0000

Looks rather like Scrat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1tdfucQfCo

By: dagfooyo

dagfooyo — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:43:00 +0000

Damn! A couple days earlier and this could’ve been my Halloween costume…

By: KBert

KBert — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:41:00 +0000

Eh, just another rodent… from Hell!

By: GawainLavers

GawainLavers — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:17:00 +0000

Weren’t the only one:
“I remember when I saw the movie I thought, ‘why have they done this ridiculous animal – there is no such thing?’. And then we find something that kind of looks like it.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15540455

By: gwailo_joe

gwailo_joe — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:56:00 +0000

Looks more like a ferret-warthog had relations with a raccoon-rat…and this wonderful creature resulted.

But I’m getting my time frame mixed up slightly…

By: J P

J P — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:56:00 +0000

I’d bet it was named after the wonderful “Cronopios” of Argentine literary master Julio Cortazar!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cronopio

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:49:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzzGPfVx32M

^the first thing I thought when I saw this