Three Ways To Be a Saber-Toothed Cat |
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Authors: | L D Martin J P Babiarz V L Naples J Hearst |
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Institution: | Museum of Natural History and Department of Ecology and Systematics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA. |
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Abstract: | Saber-toothed carnivores, until now, have been divided into two groups: scimitar-toothed cats with shorter, coarsely serrated
canines coupled with long legs for fast running, and dirk-toothed cats with more elongate, finely serrated canines coupled
to short legs built for power rather than speed. In the Pleistocene of North America, as in Europe, the scimitar-cat was Homotherium; the North American dirk-tooth was Smilodon. We now describe a new sabercat from the Early Pleistocene of Florida, combining the scimitar-tooth canine with the short,
massive limbs of a dirk-tooth predator. This presents a third way to construct a saber-toothed carnivore.
Received: 6 February 1999 / Accepted in revised from: 20 October 1999 |
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