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Saberteeth
Aug. 30th, 2007 07:16 pmThe sabertoothed configuration must have some advantage; it has evolved multiple times from several different - in some cases very different - root species. However, because there are no sabertoothed predators currently living no-one is exactly certain just what that advantage was.
We do know that there are significant disadvantages to having saber teeth, which is probably the reason there aren't any species with them around just now. Those long teeth would easily break off if they hit something solid during a bite, or if the prey struggled in a twisting motion. Indeed, many sabertoothed fossils show one or both saber teeth broken, and for many of these it is certain the damage was _premortem_, and may even have been what ultimately killed the individual.
Yet they do keep appearing. A sabertoothed species will evolve, hang around for a few tens of thousands of years, then die out. Then, a few tens of thousands of years later, another one pops up.
To anthropomorphize the situation, when Smilodon _fatalis_ appeared, the cougars looked on in mild surprise and collectively said "What, that old fad, again?"
We do know that there are significant disadvantages to having saber teeth, which is probably the reason there aren't any species with them around just now. Those long teeth would easily break off if they hit something solid during a bite, or if the prey struggled in a twisting motion. Indeed, many sabertoothed fossils show one or both saber teeth broken, and for many of these it is certain the damage was _premortem_, and may even have been what ultimately killed the individual.
Yet they do keep appearing. A sabertoothed species will evolve, hang around for a few tens of thousands of years, then die out. Then, a few tens of thousands of years later, another one pops up.
To anthropomorphize the situation, when Smilodon _fatalis_ appeared, the cougars looked on in mild surprise and collectively said "What, that old fad, again?"
