The Evolution of Feliform Saber-Tooth Skull Shape

Finally back for some discussion of saber-tooth cats, nimravids, and barbourofelids. There are two complementary articles that appeared almost simultaneously regarding the shape of the saber-tooth skull. Skull shape was examined by mapping various landmarks on different species’ skulls and measuring the change in position of these landmarks compared to average values.

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Thylacoleo, a Unique Extinct “Super-Predator”

WHILE MANY NICHES are ever-present in vertebrate-dominated ecosystems, sometimes we find an extinct group that was unique in some way. At various times in the past carnivores have evolved saber-teeth, but currently there are no saber-toothed predators (although the clouded leopard may be working on it). In a previous post I mentioned Simocyon, a cursorial generalized carnivore that retained arboriality in order to escape from larger predators, including the saber-toothed cats. Today I will write about Thylacoleo carnifex, the so-called marsupial lion.

Simocyon, a Unique Extinct Carnivore

THERE ARE certain niches that seem to be filled by one species or another at any time period. In my recent post on mammalian evolution, for instance, I mentioned Castorocauda, a Jurassic mammaliform that seems to have fit into the niche now occupied by beavers or otters. But occasionally we run across an animal that seems to be adapted for a unique role in its ecosystem. One of these animals is Simocyon. This is a puma-sized caniform that lived about 14 million years ago, and died out by four million years ago. Simocyon has a variety of unusual adaptations.