Long in the tooth: evolution of sabertooth cat cranial shape

This study used geometric morphometrics to chart how skull shape evolved across sabertooth cats and their conical-toothed relatives. By quantifying cranial landmarks in many felid species, the authors traced the morphological pathways by which elongated, blade-like canines and their supporting skull architecture arose repeatedly within the cat family. They found that the transition to extreme sabertooth form involved coordinated changes in skull proportions, gape capacity, and jaw mechanics, and that different sabertooth lineages converged on similar solutions from distinct starting points. The work clarified the macroevolutionary patterns underlying the sabertooth ecomorph, demonstrated the repeated, directional nature of these changes, and provided a quantitative framework linking cranial form to the functional demands of the canine-shear killing bite.