Scientists Say Sabretooth Bit Like a Pussycat

In public imagination, the sabre-toothed cat Smilodon ranks alongside Tyrannosaurus rex as the ultimate killing machine. Powerfully built, with upper canines like knives, Smilodon was a fearsome predator of Ice-Age America's lost giants.

Read the full article:
"Scientists Say Sabretooth Bit Like a Pussycat"
http://www.unsw.edu.au/news/pad/articles/2007/oct/Sabrecat.html

For more info, go to http://www.bees.unsw.edu.au/

Contact:
Stephen Wroe | +61 2 9385 3866 | s.wroe@unsw.edu.au

UNSW Media:
Mary O'Malley | +61 2 9385 2873 | m.omalley@unsw.edu.au

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Category:

Science & Technology

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• unsw
• science
• sabretooth
• pussycat
• smilodon
• skull
• tiger
• african
• lion
• palaeontology
• Stephen
• Wroe
• Ice
• Age
• T-Rex

[abdi1983]

lion would kill it i think it just stabbed its prey and waited for it to bleed out

[jakebaldacchino]

it didnt need a strong bite with them 7 inch or bigger K9s and cos of its K9s thats why it evolved to be the most powerful feline ever, just cos it has a weak bite dosnt mean its not a apex predator, it still holds its crown as one of the greatest predatory mammal ever

[PantheraAtrox]

Looking how nicely the upper and lower incisors locked together can see it can inflict one nasty wound tearing off large pieces of meat after the animal was felled much like a group of piranas.

I wonder if they communicated together by clacking these teeth within their grouping during the hunt rather than purrs or grunting vocalizations....or perhaps they used both.

[PantheraAtrox]

Wondering if these ancient cats had an unique social structure for hunting which consisted a necessary aliance of both adults and juveniles because of their over specialization.

In some adults in some sabertoothed cat species the teeth were so long that there was hardly any space between the upper canine teeth and the lower jaw when opened.

Were these the "powerhouse" wrestlers pinning down the large prey while the juveniles lunged for the belly or neck?

[icebear1946]

The idea was to use the sabre teeth to rip the throat out of medium-size deer. Trying to kill mammoths and similar very large mammals would have been a bad plan, the most likely result getting the sabre-teeth broken off particularly if the cat ever bit into bone of any sort.

[DonChilenito]

that not true cus how will they eat then all the skins of thouse animals in that time where very hard.

[XaaliOReilly]

I think they said Smilodon fatalis, I think.

[smilodontini]

is this smilodon populator skull?