| Saber-toothed Cat |
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| saber-toothed cats | |
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SABER-TOOTH GENERA The genera of sabre-toothed cats, along with the regions and time periods where they have been found, is summarized here:
SABER-TOOTH EVOLUTIONARY TREE All saber-tooth mammals lived between 9,000 and 33.7 million years ago, but the evolutionary lines that lead to the various saber-tooth genera started to diverge much earlier. The lineage that led to ''Thylacosmilus'' was the first to split off, in the late Cretaceous . It is a Marsupial , and thus more closely related to Kangaroo s and Opossum s than the Feline s. The Creodont s diverged next, and then the Nimravid s, before the blossoming of the truly feline saber-tooths.
WHY SUCH LARGE TEETH? The most dramatic feature common to all of the so-called saber-toothed cats is their enlarged upper canines. While it is generally agreed upon that they were used in hunting, the exact way they were used has been debated since the 1880s when '' Smilodon '' was first described. Grabbing Some paleontologists believe that the primary purpose is to grab and hold large prey. This is not well supported by evidence, however, as it has been shown that saber-teeth used in this way may be broken relatively easily, and fossil skulls with broken saber-teeth are rare. Slashing A more accepted hypothesis suggests that saber-teeth were used for a shearing bite to the throat or abdomen of large prey (Akersten, 1985), or to deliver deep stab wounds, from which the prey would eventually bleed to death. Display Another possible use was as a social display structure (like most horns and antlers). If this is the case, it would support the theory that sabertooths were social animals. SPECIES
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