ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2020
Morphological convergence obscures functional diversity in sabre-toothed carnivores.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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22 citing papers in PubMed, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Bending performance changes during prolonged canine eruption in saber-toothed carnivores: A case study of Smilodon fatalis.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2025Article
- Sharpening our understanding of saber-tooth biomechanics.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2025Review
- Myological and osteological approaches to gape and bite force reconstruction in Smilodon fatalis.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2025Article
- Morphological diversity of saber-tooth upper canines and its functional implications.Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2025Article
- Comparing cranial biomechanics between Barbourofelis fricki and Smilodon fatalis: Is there a universal killing-bite among saber-toothed predators?Anatomical record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) · 2025Article
- Reconstruction of feeding behaviour and diet in Devonian ctenacanth chondrichthyans using dental microwear texture and finite element analyses.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- RRmorph-a new R package to map phenotypic evolutionary rates and patterns on 3D meshes.Communications biology · 2024Article
- Predatory synapsid ecomorphology signals growing dynamism of late Palaeozoic terrestrial ecosystems.Communications biology · 2024Article
- Conical and sabertoothed cats as an exception to craniofacial evolutionary allometry.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Developmental origin underlies evolutionary rate variation across the placental skull.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2023Article
- Article
- The postcranial anatomy ofPeerJ · 2023Article
- Many-to-one function of cat-like mandibles highlights a continuum of sabre-tooth adaptations.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Sabertooth carcass consumption behavior and the dynamics of Pleistocene large carnivoran guilds.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Three-dimensional polygonal muscle modelling and line of action estimation in living and extinct taxa.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- One step further in biomechanical models in palaeontology: a nonlinear finite element analysis review.PeerJ · 2022Review
- True colours or red herrings?: colour maps for finite-element analysis in palaeontological studies to enhance interpretation and accessibility.Royal Society open science · 2021Article
- Back to the bones: do muscle area assessment techniques predict functional evolution across a macroevolutionary radiation?Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2021Article
- Evolutionary biomechanics: hard tissues and soft evidence?Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Convergent dental adaptations in the serrations of hypercarnivorous synapsids and dinosaurs.Biology letters · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The acquisition of elongated, sabre-like canines in multiple vertebrate clades during the last 265 Myr represents a remarkable example for convergent evolution. Due to striking superficial similarities in the cranial skeleton, the same or similar skull and jaw functions have been inferred for sabre-toothed species and interpreted as an adaptation to subdue large-bodied prey. However, although some sabre-tooth lineages have been classified into different ecomorphs (dirk-tooths and scimitar-tooths) the functional diversity within and between groups and the evolutionary paths leading to these specializations are unknown. Here, we use a suite of biomechanical simulations to analyse key functional parameters (mandibular gape angle, bending strength, bite force) to compare the functional performance of different groups and to quantify evolutionary rates across sabre-tooth vertebrates. Our results demonstrate a remarkably high functional diversity between sabre-tooth lineages and that different cranial function and prey killing strategies evolved within clades. Moreover, different biomechanical adaptations in coexisting sabre-tooth species further suggest that this functional diversity was at least partially driven by niche partitioning.
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