Editing Homotherium (section)

=== Eurasia ===
The first fossils of ''Homotherium'' were scientifically described in 1846 by [[Richard Owen]] as the species ''Machairodus latidens,''<ref>{{Cite book|last=Owen|first=Richard|title=A History of British Mammals and Birds|date=1846}}</ref> based on Pleistocene aged canine teeth found in [[Kents Cavern|Kent’s Cavern]] in [[Devon]], southwestern England by the Reverend [[John MacEnery]] in 1826.<ref name="barnett 2014">{{Cite journal |last=Barnett |first=Ross |date=January 2014 |title=An inventory of British remains of ''Homotherium'' (''Mammalia'', ''Carnivora'', ''Felidae''), with special reference to the material from ''Kent's Cavern'' |journal=[[Geobios]] |volume=47 |issue=1–2 |pages=19–29 |doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2013.12.004|bibcode=2014Geobi..47...19B }}</ref> The name ''Homotherium'' ([[Ancient Greek language|Greek]]: {{lang|grc|ὁμός}} ({{transliteration|grc|homos}}, 'same') and {{lang|grc|θηρίον}} ({{transliteration|grc|therion}}, 'beast')) was proposed by Emilio Fabrini in 1890 during a review of machairodont material from the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene of [[Tuscany]], Italy, without further explanation, for a new subgenus of ''[[Machairodus]]'', whose main distinguishing feature was the presence of a large [[diastema]] (gap) between the two lower (inferior) premolars. He further described two species in this new subgenus: ''Machairodus (Meganthereon) crenatidens'' and ''Machairodus (Meganthereon) nestianus,'' both from Tuscan remains.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Fabrini|first1=E.|year=1890|title=I Machairodus (Meganthereon) del Val d'Arno superiore|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/226998#page/201/mode/1up|journal=Bollettino Comitato Geologico d'Italia|language=it|volume=21|pages=121–144, 161–177}}</ref> The genus name itself was rarely used in the scientific literature until the late 1940s.<ref name="antón etal 2014" /> In 1918, the species ''Homotherium moravicum'' was described by Josef Woldřich based on remains found in what is now the Czech Republic.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Woldřich |first=J. |date=1916 |title=První nálezy Machaerodů v jeskynním diluviu moravském a dolnorakouském |trans-title=The first finds of Machaerods in the Moravian and Lower Austrian cave diluvium |journal=Rozpravy České akademie cís. Fr. Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění, třída II |language=cs |volume=25 |issue=12 |pages=1–8}}</ref> In 1936, [[Teilhard de Chardin]] described the new species ''Homotherium ultimus'' based on fossils from the Middle Pleistocene-aged [[Zhoukoudian Peking Man Site|Zhoukoudian cave complex]] near Beijing in northern China.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=P. Teilhard de Chardin |title=Fossil mammals from Locality 9 of Choukoutien |journal=Palaeontol. Sin. Ser. C |volume=7 |date=1936 |pages=1–61}}</ref> Remains from the late Early Pleistocene-early Middle Pleistocene of [[Java]] in Indonesia have also been attributed to this species (as ''Homotherium ultimum'').<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last1=Volmer |first1=Rebekka |last2=Hertler |first2=Christine |last3=van der Geer |first3=Alexandra |date=January 2016 |title=Niche overlap and competition potential among tigers (Panthera tigris), sabertoothed cats (Homotherium ultimum, Hemimachairodus zwierzyckii) and Merriam's Dog (Megacyon merriami) in the Pleistocene of Java |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S003101821500601X |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=441 |pages=901–911 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2015.10.039|bibcode=2016PPP...441..901V |hdl=10795/3286 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In 1972, a species ''Homotherium davitashvili'' (also spelled ''davitasvilii<ref name="antón etal 2014" />'') was described based on fragmentary material found at the late Pliocene Kvabebi locality in Georgia.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=A.K. Vekua |title=Kvabebskaya Fauna Akchagyl'skikh pozvonochnykh |trans-title=The Kvabebi Fauna of Akchagylian Vertebrates |journal=Nauka|date=1972}}</ref><ref name="antón etal 2014" /> Other material from Odessa in Ukraine was tentatively assigned to this species in 2004.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sotnikova |first=M. V. |date=2004 |title=New data on the Pliocene carnivore fauna of Odessa Catacombs |journal=Problems of Stratigraphy of the Phanerozoic of Ukraine. Institute of Geological Sciences, Kiev |pages=199–202}}</ref> In 1986, the species ''Homotherium darvasicum'' was described by Scharif Scharapov based on material from Kuruksay, [[Tajikistan]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Scharapov |first=S. |date=1986 |title=Kuruksajskij kompleks pozdnepliocenovych mlekopitajushchikh Afgano-Tadshikskoj depressii |trans-title=The Kuruksai complex of late Pliocene milk-bearing mammals of the Afgano-Tadshik depression |journal=Duanbe (Donis) |language=sl |volume=272}}</ref> In 1989, another species ''Homotherium tielhardipiveteaui'' was named by Scharapov based on fossils also found in Tajikistan.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Scharapov |first=S. |date=1989 |title=On a new species of the saber-toothed cat from the Late Eopleistocene of the Afgano-Tadjik depression and the evolution of the genus Homotherium Fabrini, 1890 |journal=Paleontological Journal, Moscow |volume=3 |pages=73–83}}</ref> In 1996, ''Homotherium hengduanshanense'' was described based on fossils from the [[Hengduan Mountains]] of southwestern China.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Cenozoic mammals and environment of Hengduan Mountains Region |date=1996 |publisher=China Ocean Press |isbn=978-7-5027-4157-0 |editor-last=Guanfu |editor-first=Zong |location=Beijing |display-authors=etal}}</ref> Indeterminate remains of ''Homotherium'' have been reported from the [[Siwalik Hills]] of the northern Indian subcontinent, of Early - early Middle Pleistocene age.''<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last=Stimpson |first=Christopher M. |date=May 2024 |title=Siwalik sabrecats: review and revised diagnosis of Megantereon fossils from the foothills of the Himalaya |journal=Royal Society Open Science |language=en |volume=11 |issue=5 |bibcode=2024RSOS...1131788S |doi=10.1098/rsos.231788 |issn=2054-5703 |pmc=11076117 |pmid=38720790}}</ref>''

In a 1954 publication, Jean Viret proposed that ''Homotherium crenatidens'' was the applicable species name for much of the ''Homotherium'' material in the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene of Europe. While Ficcarelli in 1979 regarded ''H. crenatidens'' and ''H. latidens'' as distinct species, this was disputed by Alan Turner in a 1999 publication, who considered that the proposed morphological differences separating the two species were invalid and the two species were not distinct.<ref name="antón etal 2014" />

A 2014 review recognised only one species of ''Homotherium'' in Eurasia during the Late Pliocene-Pleistocene, ''Homotherium latidens.'' Other named ''Homotherium'' species from this time period, including ''H. crenatidens'', were found not to be distinct. Across time and space, the remains of ''H. latidens'' display considerable morphological variability, though there does not appear to be any clear pattern in this variation temporally or geographically (with the exception of the presence of "pocketing" of the margin of the masseteric [[Fossa (anatomy)|fossa]] of the mandible appearing in Middle and Late Pleistocene ''H. latidens'', but not earlier ones), with the morphological variation of the entire span of ''Homotherium'' in Eurasia from the Late Pliocene to the Late Pleistocene being similar to the variation found at the large sample for individuals from the Incarcal locality from the Early Pleistocene of Spain, supporting a single valid species. Some older material from the Pliocene of Eastern Europe (such as that from the [[Odesa catacombs|Odesa Catacombs]] in Ukraine) was tenatively considered to belong to a separate species.<ref name="antón etal 2014" /> Some authors have continued to recognise ''Homotherium crenatidens'' as a valid, pan-Eurasian species chronologically earlier than ''H. latidens'' (with these authors suggesting that ''H. crenatidens'' spans the Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene, while ''H. latidens'' spans the Middle-Late Pleistocene).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jiangzuo |first1=Qigao |last2=Zhao |first2=Hailong |last3=Chen |first3=Xi |date=2022-07-12 |title=The first complete cranium of Homotherium (Machairodontinae, Felidae) from the Nihewan Basin (northern China) |url=https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ar.25029 |journal=The Anatomical Record |language=en |doi=10.1002/ar.25029 |pmid=35819068 |issn=1932-8486}}</ref>