Microwear on Canines and Killing Behavior in Large Carnivores: Saber Function in Smilodon fatalis

Anyonge, William

doi:10.2307/1382786

Cited by 58 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Paleontologists have now examined dental microwear for human ancestors and other fossil primates (Daegling andGrine 1994, 1986;Grine and Kay 1987;Jacobs 1981;King et al 1999;Leakey et al 2003;Lucas and Teaford 1994;Pérez-Pérez et al 1999;Puech et al 1983;Ryan and Johanson 1989;Strait 1993;Teaford and Walker 1984;Ungar 1996;Ungar and Grine 1991;Ungar and Teaford 1996;Walker 1981). Microwear studies have also been applied to a broad range of other fossil taxa, from Paleozoic conodonts (early vertebrates) (Purnell 1995), to Mesozoic sauropod dinosaurs (Fiorillo 1991), to primitive mammals (Biknevicius 1986, Krause 1982, fossil horses (MacFadden et al 1999), giraffes (Solounias et al 1988), muskrats (Gutierrez et al 1998), pigs (Hunter and Fortelius 1994), sabre tooth cats (Anyonge 1996, Van Valkenburgh et al 1990, and other groups.…”

Section: Reconstructing Diets Of Past Peoples and Extinct Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantification of Dental Microwear by Tandem Scanning Confocal Microscopy and Scale‐Sensitive Fractal Analyses

et al. 2003

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Summary: Dental microwear analysis is among the most commonly used approaches to reconstructing the diets of extinct animal species and past peoples. The usual procedure involves imaging tooth wear surfaces by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Surfaces are characterized quantitatively by measurement of individual wear features (pits and scratches) on photomicrographs. Recent studies of living animals have shown associations between diets on one hand and patterns of dental microwear on the other. Furthermore, patterns on fossil teeth have been used to reconstruct diets in extinct forms. However, conventional methods for microwear analysis are limited. Scanning electron microscopy does not provide a true representation of these surfaces in three dimensions, and identification and measurement of individual features is time consuming, subjective, and subject to high interobserver error. This paper describes a new approach to the analysis of dental microwear using tandem scanning confocal microscopy and scale-sensitive fractal analyses. The instrument used in this study provides three-dimensional coordinates representing surfaces at a resolution equivalent to that employed by most SEM microwear studies. Fractal analyses offer objective, repeatable, quantitative characterization of surfaces. This approach eliminates major sources of error and increases power to resolve differences between species. Moreover, rapid surface characterization will allow examination of large samples to assess within species variation and to make finer distinctions between species.

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Section: Reconstructing Diets Of Past Peoples and Extinct Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantification of Dental Microwear by Tandem Scanning Confocal Microscopy and Scale‐Sensitive Fractal Analyses

et al. 2003

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“…And, S. fatalis from La Brea has lower incidence of pits and more scratches on carnassial teeth than the soft/tough-tissue specialist cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus , which suggests that the saber-toothed cat avoided bone and did not utilize carcasses completely [16]. In contrast, the canines of S. fatalis evince heavy pitting but few scratches compared with extant taxa ranging from cheetahs to spotted hyenas [17]. Conflicting interpretations of the inferred feeding behavior of S. fatalis from La Brea, based on microwear feature data and tooth breakage data, suggest that other methods are necessary to clarify degree of carcass utilization by carnivores at La Brea during the Pleistocene.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Implications of Diet for the Extinction of Saber-Toothed Cats and American Lions

et al. 2012

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The saber-toothed cat, Smilodon fatalis, and American lion, Panthera atrox, were among the largest terrestrial carnivores that lived during the Pleistocene, going extinct along with other megafauna ∼12,000 years ago. Previous work suggests that times were difficult at La Brea (California) during the late Pleistocene, as nearly all carnivores have greater incidences of tooth breakage (used to infer greater carcass utilization) compared to today. As Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA) can differentiate between levels of bone consumption in extant carnivores, we use DMTA to clarify the dietary niches of extinct carnivorans from La Brea. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that times were tough at La Brea with carnivorous taxa utilizing more of the carcasses. Our results show no evidence of bone crushing by P. atrox, with DMTA attributes most similar to the extant cheetah, Acinonyx jubatus, which actively avoids bone. In contrast, S. fatalis has DMTA attributes most similar to the African lion Panthera leo, implying that S. fatalis did not avoid bone to the extent previously suggested by SEM microwear data. DMTA characters most indicative of bone consumption (i.e., complexity and textural fill volume) suggest that carcass utilization by the extinct carnivorans was not necessarily more complete during the Pleistocene at La Brea; thus, times may not have been “tougher” than the present. Additionally, minor to no significant differences in DMTA attributes from older (∼30–35 Ka) to younger (∼11.5 Ka) deposits offer little evidence that declining prey resources were a primary cause of extinction for these large cats.

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“…Smilodon fatalis is an ambush predator that likely did not chase its prey far. It used its powerful forelimbs to knock prey off balance and hold it down while it delivered a killing bite with its sabre canines (Anyonge, ; Antón et al ., ; Meachen‐Samuels & Van Valkenburgh, ). Microwear evidence also suggests that S. fatalis fully utilized a carcass and did consume some bones (DeSantis et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution in the sabre‐tooth cat, Smilodon fatalis, in response to Pleistocene climate change

Meachen

O’Keefe

Sadleir

2014

J of Evolutionary Biology

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The late Pleistocene was a time of environmental change, culminating in an extinction event. Few fossil localities record a temporal series of carnivore fossil populations from this interesting interval as well as Rancho La Brea (RLB). We analysed mandibles of Smilodon fatalis from RLB using 2-D geometric morphometrics to examine whether, and how, mandibular shape changes through time. Smilodon fatalis shows mandibular evolution with oscillations between a small, ancestral-type morph in pits 77 (%37 Kybp) and 2051 (%26 Kybp), a larger, more derived morph in pits 91 (%28 Kybp) and 61-67 (%13.6 Kybp), and an intermediate morph from pit 13 (%17.7 Kybp). These oscillations end in pit 61-67, with greatest body size, and are estimated to have its widest gape and lowest bite force. Additionally, variation is lowest in pit 61-67, which was deposited concurrent with the Bølling-Allerød warming event, which may have important implications for the timing or conditions during the extinction event. Contra to a temporal Bergmann's rule, such rapid warming events appear to be correlated with larger, derived, morphologies whereas static, cooler, climates correlate with gracile, ancestral morphologies.

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Microwear on Canines and Killing Behavior in Large Carnivores: Saber Function in Smilodon fatalis

Cited by 58 publications

References 26 publications

Quantification of Dental Microwear by Tandem Scanning Confocal Microscopy and Scale‐Sensitive Fractal Analyses

Quantification of Dental Microwear by Tandem Scanning Confocal Microscopy and Scale‐Sensitive Fractal Analyses

Implications of Diet for the Extinction of Saber-Toothed Cats and American Lions

Evolution in the sabre‐tooth cat, Smilodon fatalis, in response to Pleistocene climate change

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