A South American saber-tooth marsupial scavenger?
Added 2020-06-26 20:20:12 +0000 UTCToday in the world of paleo-news, the strange South American saber-tooth marsupial Thylacosmilus atrox seems to have lived a different kind of lifestyle than its placental look-alike, the saber-tooth cat Smilodon fatalis.
While both animals had enlarged canines, they were shaped differently, which suggests they might've functioned differently, too. Thylacosmilus had triangular canines, while Smilodon had blade-like ones. The canines and skull of Thylacosmilus were also weaker for use in stabbing prey, but stronger for pulling back. So, the authors of the new study suggest it might've been using those huge teeth to open up carcasses rather than to kill its prey, making it more of a scavenger than an active predator.
Thylacosmilus also didn't have incisors, which living cats use to remove meat from bone, and its small molars don't have the kind of wear on them that's caused by eating meat or crushing bone. Instead, they seem to have been eating something very soft, maybe even internal organs.
For more info, check out: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/latest/2020/06/sabretooth-really-%27pussycat%27.aspx
