Bending performance changes during prolonged canine eruption in saber-toothed carnivores: A case study of Smilodon fatalis.

ABSTRACT: The canine of saber-toothed predators represents one of the most specialized dental structures known. Hypotheses about the function of hypertrophied canines range from display and conspecific interaction, soft food processing, to active prey acquisition. Recent research on the ontogenetic timing of skull traits indicates the adult canine can take years to fully erupt, but the consequences of prolonged eruption on inferences of canine functional morphology are missing from current discourse and have not been quantified. Here I evaluate hypotheses about adult canine bending strength and stiffness, respectively, during eruption in the felid Smilodon fatalis. Simulated eruption sequences of three adult canines were generated from specimen models to assess shifting cross-sectional geometry prop

SUBMITTER: Tseng ZJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12506851 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature