American Lion (Panthera atrox)

[Sully]

"To learn more about saber-toothed diets, the researchers analyzed the fossil teeth of 15 saber-toothed cats (Smilodon fatalis) and 15 American lions (Panthera atrox) recovered from the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. These specimens ranged from about 11,500 to 35,000 years in age.
To study the fossils, the scientists used dental microwear texture analysis, developed by anthropologist Peter Ungar at the University of Arkansas. This involves using generating three-dimensional images of a tooth's surface. The image is then analyzed for microscopic grooves — devouring red meat produces small parallel scratches, while biting on bones lead to larger, deeper pits.
The investigation found the pattern of wear on the teeth of the saber-toothed cat most closely resembled those of present-day African lions, which sometimes crush bone when they eat. The wear pattern on American lion teeth, on the other hand, echoed that of the present-day cheetah, which deliberately avoids bones when it feeds."

The rest of the article is interesting enough too, questioning the popular narrative as to why megafauna predators of the pleistocene went extinct.

https://www.livescience.com/25848-starvation-extinction-sabertooth-cats.html Reply