Smilodon fatalis

[Matias]

Difficult to understand as a fangs of this size characterizes an element of advantage. The reduced angle of opening of the jaw (even having more than 110 degrees between their arcades) and the fragility before bones or other hard material, as well as the apparent inability to consume all parts of his victim, leaving much of his carcass partially torn to other predators is always an question intriguing.

It is a very ancient and winning dynasty, and it is unquestionable that its functionality has in some way brought an advantage and increased its survival rate. However, I imagine that the long the fangs is (from a certain age), some limitations should arise, both for hunting and for feeding. This picture above (Post 36) @epaiva  is an exceptional individual and this dimension does not seem make it stronger or more fit for anything. The big your fangs, the more ability Smilodon would need to know how to use it. It does not seem good for a predator to need to uncover a complex technique to properly use these two canines. The steady growth of its upper tusks seems to bring many disadvantages.

As the study identifies (Post 37) the rate of growth of these fangs was very slow, allowing a gradual adaptation. Whose implication could determine that until a certain age (still with small fangs) its source of feeding was very different from fully adult individuals. If it were a social feline, the adults were likely to feed first, and the pups and sub-adults (of small fangs) cleaned the carcasses, and so, with bone exception, almost nothing remained. For adults who fed themselves on huge chunks of meat, I do not think it logical for a Smilodon pride competing with each other, as lions do, on a carcass in order to get the best parts, since the frenzy of shared feeding would certainly would cause the rupture of fangs from contact with bones, and thus the vast majority of fossils would not present their fangs intact. If so, it is difficult to imagine Smilodon as a social feline (Big prides).

It is unlikely, but it is possible that a Smilodon like this one in the photo was in its final stage of life, or that its life cycle was shorter than other felines of the same size. I can not see advantage in having a canine more than 14 ou 15cm projected out. In the felidae family it is difficult to understand how this functionality remains present until the late Pleistocene. Without a specialization of large prey (giant sloths for example) these canines would not provide advantages in strong and fast prey such as buffaloes, horses, camels.Living with Panthera Atrox in the last few thousand years has not allowed any evolution in its morphology, such as the reduction of its prey or the increase of its tail. In Africa, its extinction around more than a million years ago coincided with the greatest diversity of widespread antelopes: fast, agile prey and large groupings (savannah)... who knows was a dynasty that survived far beyond his time in the three americas.

Just a few ideas.

I not read these posts that have photos of book pages (Post 38). How to translate?

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