Grenoble. A new study, coordinated by Raffaele Sardella and Dawid Adam Lurino, from the Department of Earth Sciences of La Sapienza University with the University of Perugia in collaboration with the ESRF of Grenoble and the University of Verona, has lead to the revelation, from a skull fragment fossil, the identikit of a giant cheetah. The giant cheetah was one of the most ferocious predators that the first men who entered Europe had to face a million and a half years ago. Less agile than the regular cheetah, but as powerful as a panther and the weight of a lion, the characteristics of the ancient feline emerged from the skull analysis performed with a particle accelerator at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESFR) in Grenoble, with the collaboration of La Sapienza University. The study was published in the journal “Scientific Reports”. (9colonne)
