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Feline fossil believed to be Japan's oldest found in Fukushima+
[February 28, 2006]

Feline fossil believed to be Japan's oldest found in Fukushima+


(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)FUKUSHIMA, Japan, Feb. 28_(Kyodo) _ A fossil of a feline tooth, believed to be Japan's oldest, has been discovered in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, according to a research report released Tuesday.



The fossil, believed to be a tooth that belonged to a species of saber-toothed tiger, was found in a stratum about 2.5 million years old, the report said.

Fossils of felines have been found in such old strata overseas but those discovered in Japan so far have been buried in strata less than a million years old.


Fukushima Museum researcher Toshinobu Takahashi, who compiled the report, said, "This may be Japan's oldest. It's a very valuable discovery as it shows a feline lived in that age in Japan."

The fossil, which was found by an amateur researchers' group, is a top incisor about 4.4 centimeters in length and with a diameter of about 1 cm at its thickest part.

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