Thylacosmilus atrox skull, American Museum of Natural History.
Thylacosmilus ("pouch sabre") was a genus of sabre-toothed marsupial predators that first appeared during the Miocene. Remains of the animal have been found in parts of South America, primarily Argentina. It was not a relative of the true saber-tooth cat, but rather a prime example of convergent evolution.
Description
Thylacosmilus had long, sabre-like upper canines and short, blunt, peg-like lower canines. The incisors were missing altogether and the other teeth were severely reduced, but, as distinct from machairods, their number was complete. [1]
Thylacosmilus' sabre-teeth kept growing throughout its life, unlike the sabres of true saber-tooths. It also had a pair of elongated, scabbard-like flanges growing from the lower jaw, which protected the sabre-teeth when it closed its mouth. The cervical vertebrae were very strong and to some extent resembled the vertebrae of machairods. [2]
It became extinct during the early Pleistocene as a result of the Great American Interchange, being outcompeted by true sabre-tooth cats such as Smilodon.
References
- ^ Benes, Josef. Prehistoric Animals and Plants. Prague, Artua, 1979. Pg. 237-8
- ^ Benes, Josef. Prehistoric Animals and Plants. Prague, Artua, 1979. Pg. 237-8
- Evolution of the Earth by Donald R. Prothero, Jr., Robert H. Dott, Donald Prothero, and Jr., Robert Dott
- The Earth Through Time by Harold L. Levin
- Bringing Fossils To Life: An Introduction To Paleobiology by Donald R. Prothero
External links
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