An ancient tar pit exposed when Venezuelan oil workers laid a pipeline has yielded a rich trove of fossils, including a type of saber-toothed cat that paleontologists had never found before in South America. Scientists say the find holds the promise of many discoveries to come.
The fossils are 1.8 million years old and include skulls and jawbones of six scimitar-toothed cats - a variety of saber-toothed cat with shorter, narrower canine teeth than other species.
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| In this undated photo released by Ascanio Rincon, a fossil of a type of saber-toothed cat is seen.
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