The Sabre-toothed Cat became extinct around 10,000 BCE. Creating a realistic image from a few photos of a skull is an exciting process of comparing the data with today’s big cats and sketching the appropriate muscle structures before adding a plausible looking fur texture. As it is of primarily North American origin, I went for an understated pattern, based on the plain cougar with a touch of the heavily patterned jaguar. The jaws of the Sabre-toothed could open twice as wide as those of a lion, and had a relatively weak bite. The two enlarged canines were not used for the initial strike but to stab the neck once the prey was subdued.
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keywords (defined):
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keywords (additional): |
mammals, cats, predation, paleontology, reconstruction |
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