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19 summaries in Paleontology & Fossil Felids on smilodon-fatalis
Body size of Smilodon (Mammalia: Felidae)
PaperThis study estimated body mass across the species of Smilodon using regression relationships between skeletal dimensions and body weight in living felids. The analysis confirmed that the South America…
Per Christiansen, John M. Harris · Journal of Morphology · 2005
Causes and Consequences of Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinctions as Revealed from Rancho La Brea Mammals
PaperThe authors applied dental microwear texture analysis to carnivores from Rancho La Brea, comparing microscopic wear surfaces on the teeth of Smilodon fatalis and other predators across the deposit's c…
Larisa R. G. DeSantis, Blaine W. Schubert, Jessica R. Scott, Peter S. Ungar · PLoS ONE · 2012
Parallels between playbacks and Pleistocene tar seeps suggest sociality in an extinct sabretooth cat, Smilodon
PaperThis study tested whether Smilodon fatalis was social by treating the Rancho La Brea tar seeps as a fossilized natural experiment. Modern audio playbacks of distressed prey draw social carnivores in f…
Chris Carbone, Tom Maddox, Paul J. Funston, Michael G. L. Mills, Gregory F. Grether, Blaire Van Valkenburgh · Biology Letters · 2009
Research overview: Pit 91 and ongoing excavation science at Rancho La Brea
OverviewThis overview describes Pit 91, one of the most carefully excavated deposits at Rancho La Brea, and its contribution to sabertooth science. Unlike the rapid early salvage digs of the twentieth century…
Research overview: Smilodon population dynamics through the La Brea sequence
OverviewThis overview examines attempts to track changes in Smilodon fatalis populations across the tens of thousands of years recorded by the Rancho La Brea pits. Because different pits accumulated at differ…
Research overview: South American records of Smilodon and the Talara seeps
OverviewThis overview surveys the fossil record of Smilodon across South America, including the tar seeps of Talara in Peru, which offer a southern counterpart to Rancho La Brea. The continent preserves both…
Research overview: brain anatomy and endocasts of Smilodon
OverviewThis overview reviews what natural and digital endocasts reveal about the brain of Smilodon. By examining the internal cavity of well-preserved La Brea skulls and using CT scanning to generate virtual…
Research overview: canine eruption and growth in juvenile Smilodon
OverviewThis overview reviews studies of how the famous sabre canines of Smilodon grew and erupted during an individual's life. Using La Brea specimens spanning juveniles to adults, and incremental growth lin…
Research overview: competition between Smilodon and dire wolves at La Brea
OverviewThis overview surveys evidence for ecological interaction and competition between the sabertooth Smilodon fatalis and the dire wolf, the two most abundant large carnivores at Rancho La Brea. Researche…
Research overview: forelimb robusticity and prey-grappling in Smilodon
OverviewThis overview examines the exceptionally powerful forelimbs of Smilodon and what they reveal about how the cat subdued prey. Compared with similarly sized living felids, Smilodon shows thickened limb…
Research overview: healed injuries and the social-care debate in Smilodon
OverviewThis overview focuses on a specific line of argument about sabertooth behaviour: that severely injured Smilodon individuals survived long enough for their wounds to heal, which some researchers read a…
Research overview: hyoid anatomy and vocalization in Smilodon
OverviewThis overview reviews what the preserved hyoid bones of Smilodon suggest about the sounds the sabertooth may have made. In living cats, the structure of the hyoid apparatus correlates with whether a s…
Research overview: isotopic reconstruction of Smilodon prey choice
OverviewThis overview surveys how stable isotope studies have been used to identify the prey of Smilodon at sites such as Rancho La Brea. By comparing carbon and nitrogen values in sabertooth bone collagen wi…
Research overview: limb proportions and the ambush lifestyle of Smilodon
OverviewThis overview examines how the limb proportions of Smilodon distinguish it from pursuit predators and point to an ambush hunting style. Compared with cursorial carnivores built for speed, the sabertoo…
Research overview: paleopathology and injuries in La Brea Smilodon
OverviewThis overview surveys the abundant evidence of disease, injury, and skeletal abnormality preserved in Smilodon fatalis from Rancho La Brea. The asphalt deposits yield bones showing healed fractures, a…
Research overview: radiocarbon chronology of La Brea sabertooth deposits
OverviewThis overview surveys efforts to date the Rancho La Brea deposits and place their sabertooth fossils in time. Because the asphalt pits accumulated remains over tens of thousands of years and because p…
Research overview: sexual dimorphism and its detection in Smilodon
OverviewThis overview examines whether Smilodon fatalis showed pronounced size differences between males and females, a question with implications for its social system. Because the La Brea sample is large, r…
Research overview: the three species of Smilodon and their taxonomic boundaries
OverviewThis overview surveys how palaeontologists distinguish the three generally recognized species of the sabertooth genus Smilodon. The earliest and smallest, Smilodon gracilis, appears in the early Pleis…
Supermodeled sabercat, predatory behavior in Smilodon fatalis revealed by high-resolution 3D computer simulation
PaperUsing finite element analysis, the authors built a high-resolution digital model of a Smilodon fatalis skull and compared its mechanical performance against a modern lion. The simulations showed that…
Colin R. McHenry, Stephen Wroe, Philip D. Clausen, Karen Moreno, Eleanor Cunningham · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2007