Saber Toothed Cat

A saber-toothed cat (sometimes written sabre-toothed cat) is a predatory mammal with long, curved saber-shaped canine teeth that protrude from the mouth when closed. From the Eocene epoch through the end of the Pleistocene epoch 42 million years ago (mya) – 11,000 years ago, saber-toothed cats were present practically everywhere. Below are some fossil photos of different types of saber tooth cats that have gone extinct: Inostrancevia, Hoplophoneus, Barbourofelis, Smilodon, Machaeroides, and Thylacosmilus (beginning from top left):

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Brief Characteristics Of Saber Toothed Cats

Saber-toothed cats are also sometimes referred to as saber toothed tigers or saber tooth lions. The sabre tooth tiger extinct species and the saber tooth lions are any of the catlike carnivore animals that are said to belong to either the extinct family Nimravidae or the subfamily Machairodontinae (Felidae) of the cat family. 

Smilodon cat is one of the most well-known genera, and its species, particularly S. fatalis, are commonly (though mistakenly) referred to as "saber-toothed tigers." Many creatures referred to as saber-toothed "cats" are not closely related to modern cats, so using the term cat is sometimes a misnomer (Felidae). Instead, many members are divided into Feliformia families such as Barbourofelidae and Nimravidae; the oxyaenid "creodont" genera Machaeroides and Apataelurus; and two extinct lineages of metatherian mammals, Sparassodonta's thylacosmilidae; and deltatheroideans, which are more closely related to marsupials. These saber-toothed mammals can be seen as examples of convergent evolution in this way.This convergence is notable not just because of the evolution of elongated canines, but also because of a set of additional traits, including a wide gape and massive forelimbs, that has been dubbed the "saber-tooth suite."

The Nimravidae family is the oldest of the feliform lineages, having appeared around 42 million years ago and gone extinct by 7.2 million years ago. Barbourofelidae appeared around 16.9 million years ago and died out by 9 million years ago. Some habitats would have been shared by these two.

What Are They Made Of?

The saber-toothed traits of different populations of saber-toothed cats evolved independently. They were particularly notable for having maxillary canines that extended down from the mouth when closed. Saber-toothed cats were generally larger and more robust than modern cats, with a bear-like physique. They are thought to have been skilled hunters who hunted sloths, mammoths, and other huge game. Smilodon, like modern lions, was a gregarious carnivore, according to evidence uncovered in the La Brea Tar Pits.

Non-mammalian synapsids, such as the gorgonopsids, were one of the earliest groups of animals within Synapsida to develop sabre teeth, and many of them had lengthy canines. Some people had two pairs of upper canines, two on each side, but most people only had one pair of extreme upper canines. They are quite easy to distinguish from machairodontinae due to their primitive nature. An absence of a coronoid process, several sharp "premolars" that are more comparable to pegs than scissors, and exceptionally lengthy skulls are only a few of the distinguishing features.

The second time it appears is in Deltatheroida, a Cretaceous metatherian branch. Long canines were found in at least one genus, Lotheridium, and given the clade's predatory tendencies as well as the typically fragmentary material, this may have been a more common adaptation.

Thylacosmilus, the most distinctive of the saber-tooth mammals and the easiest to distinguish, is the third occurrence of long canines. It differs from machairodontinae in that it has a noticeable flange and a triangular cross-section tooth. The canine root is more pronounced than in machairodonts, and there is no real sagittal crest.

The clade Oxyaenidae has the fourth instance of saber-teeth. The canines of the short and slender Machaeroides were thinner than those of the normal machairodont. It had a longer and thinner muzzle.

The ancient feliform (carnivoran) family Nimravidae makes its fifth saber-tooth appearance. Both groups have short skulls with tall sagittal crests and a fairly similar overall skull form. Some have noticeable flanges, while others don't, further complicating the situation. However, Machairodontinae were almost usually larger, with longer and stout canines for the most part, with exceptions.

The barbourofelidae make their sixth appearance. These feliform carnivores have a lot in common with cats. Barbourofelidae includes the namesake Barbourofelis, which has a significantly larger and more stout mandible, smaller orbits, huge and almost knobby flanges, and canines that are farther back than most machairodontinae. Barbourofelidae' exhibited more dramatic incisor development than the normal machairodont. The machairodontinae was the seventh and final saber-toothed group to emerge.

The convergent development of saber-like canines as a hunting adaptation is responsible for the resemblance in all of these disparate groups. Although the saber-toothed cats' adoption made them successful, it appears that the move to obligatory carnivory, as well as co-evolution with huge prey species, drove the saber-toothed cats of each time period to extinction. According to Van Valkenburgh, the traits that allowed saber-toothed cats to thrive also put them at risk of extinction. In her example, trends toward increased size and specialisation acted as a "macro-evolutionary ratchet": when large prey became scarce or extinct, these creatures would be unable to adapt to smaller prey or consume other sources of food, and they would also be unable to shrink in size so that they would require less food.

More recently, it has been proposed that Thylacosmilus varied dramatically from its placental counterparts in that it lacked incisors and had differently curved canines. This shows it was an entrail specialist and not ecologically similar to other saber-teeth. Another study discovered that other saber-toothed species had distinct lifestyles as well, despite superficial anatomical similarities.

What Do They Eat?

Large beasts like elephants, rhinoceros, and other giant herbivores of the time provided food for many of the saber-toothed cats. Large mammals were the source of food for the saber-toothed cats, because of which the evolution of bigger canines in Tertiary predators is possible. The emergence of the saber-toothed condition appears to be the result of a change in function and killing behaviour rather than a shift in predator-prey relationships. Many theories abound about saber-toothed killing methods, including striking delicate tissue like the belly and throat, where biting deep is necessary to create lethal blows. Strikes to major blood arteries in these huge mammals were also helped by the extended teeth. The exact functional advantage of the saber-toothed cat's bite, especially in relation to prey size, is unknown. The research by Andersson introduces a novel point-to-point bite model, which shows that the depth of the deadly bite for saber-tooth cats reduces drastically with increasing prey size. When saber-toothed cats bite into prey with a radius of less than 10 cm, their enlarged gape causes a significant increase in bite depth.

C. K. Brain presents a conflicting viewpoint on the cat's hunting style and skill in "The Hunters or the Hunted?" where he credits the cat's prey-killing abilities to its powerful neck muscles rather than its jaws. To bite down and bring down their prey, large cats use both their upper and lower jaws. The powerful temporalis muscle that connects the skull to the coronoid process of the jaw is responsible for the strong bite. The bite is stronger when the coronoid process is considered larger than the muscle that connects there. As C.K. Brain points out, saber-toothed cats had a much shortened coronoid process, resulting in a weak bite. However, the cat's mastoid process, a muscular connection at the base of the skull that connects to neck muscles, was expanded. According to C.K. Brain, the saber-tooth would push the huge upper canines into the prey with their usual "downward thrust of the head, propelled by the neck muscles." This method was "more effective than those used by genuine cats."

Some Species of Saber Toothed Cat

Brief information about some of the species belonging to this group are given below:

Inostrancevia

Inostrancevia is a carnivorous therapsid genus that includes the largest members of the Gorgonopsid family, predators with long, saber-toothed fangs. Various species lived in northern Russia during the Upper Tatarian (Vyatskian), a Russian regional stage similar to the Late Permian Wuchiapingian stage, which lasted between 259 and 252.3 million years ago. Several skulls and two almost-complete skeletons have been discovered.

The Inostrancevia species were the largest gorgonopsids ever discovered, with total body lengths up to 3.5 m (11.5 ft) and long, narrow skulls up to 60 cm (24 in). This animal weighed around 300 kg on average (661.3 lbs). Inostrancevia, like several other gorgonopsids, had highly developed canine teeth, with the upper jaw reaching a length of up to 15 cm (5.9 in), with the root equating to half its length. Their bodies were slim, and their legs were short. Scutosaurus, on which Inostrancevia most likely preyed, shared its environment with Inostrancevia.

Hoplophoneus

Hoplophoneus is an extinct genus of the Nimravidae family that was native to North America during the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene Epochs (35-29 million years ago) and lived for about 6 million years. Although not a genuine cat, Hoplophoneus resembled cats in appearance, however with a more robust body and shorter legs. Sorkin (2008) calculated the weight of the largest known specimen, which was estimated to be 160 kg (350 lb).

Hoplophoneus occidentalis was roughly the size of a large leopard with significantly larger canine teeth. Large upper canines and a massive flange at the front of the lower jaw were found in, the larger H. sicarius and H. mentalis.

Barbourofelis

Barbourofelis is a genus of big, predatory feliform carnivores from the Barbourofelidae family that is now extinct (false saber-tooth cats). During the Miocene, the genus was endemic to North America and Eurasia until it died out during the Tortonian, surviving from 13.6 to 7.3 Ma.

While B. fricki was assumed to be a lion-sized predator, with a weight comparable to an African lion and limb bones indicating a strong, robust body, other species in the genus, such as B. morrisi, were thought to be closer in size to leopards. This genus' canines were the longest of all the barbourofelidae, and they were also flattened, indicating a high degree of food specialisation. The lateral surface of these canines possessed a longitudinal groove that was characterised as a conduit for blood from a wound they had inflicted to drain away. This groove was most likely created to lighten the canines while keeping their strength.

Smilodon

Smilodon tooth is a felidae genus from the extinct machairodont subfamily. It is the most well-known saber-toothed cat and one of the most well-known prehistoric mammals. The saber-toothed tiger was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats, despite its common name. During the Pleistocene epoch (2.5 mya – 10,000 years ago), Smilodon roamed the Americas. The genus was described in 1842 after fossils were discovered in Brazil; the generic name translates to "scalpel" or "two-edged knife" plus "tooth." S. gracilis, S. fatalis, and S. populator are the three species currently identified. The two latter species are thought to be descendants of S. gracilis, which evolved from Megantereon. The largest collection of Smilodon types fossils comes from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, where hundreds of individuals were discovered.

Machaeroides

Machaeroides (meaning "dagger-like") was a sabre-toothed predatory mammal that lived during the Eocene epoch (54.9 to 46.2 mya). Its fossils were discovered in Wyoming, in the United States. Both animals have a passing or superficial resemblance to a small saber-toothed cat the size of a dog. The more elongated skulls of Machaeroides, as well as their plantigrade stance, set them apart from true saber-toothed cats. Machaeroides species are recognised from the closely related Apatosaurus by the smaller saber-teeth of the former genus. The species Machaeroides, despite its diminutive size, was well-suited to hunt prey larger than itself, such as the small, primitive horses and rhinoceroses that existed at the period, as it was armed with sabre teeth and muscular forelimbs to subdue prey.

M. eothen was about the same size as a small Staffordshire Terrier, weighing 10–14 kg (22–31 lb). M. simpsoni was most likely a smaller species.

Thylacosmilus

Thylacosmilus is a genus of extinct saber-toothed metatherian mammals that lived in South America throughout the Late Miocene and Pliocene epochs. Though Thylacosmilus resembles "saber-toothed cats," it is a sparassodonta, a group closely linked to marsupials that only superficially resembles other saber-toothed mammals due to convergent evolution. The biting forces of Thylacosmilus and saber tooth Smilodon were found to be modest in a 2005 study, indicating that saber-toothed creatures' killing techniques differed from those of current species. Thylacosmilus remains have been discovered predominantly in the provinces of Catamarca, Entre Ros, and La Pampa in northern Argentina.