DeclinetoState
10-01-2007, 05:45 PM
Jeanna Bryner (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/byline/sabertoothedcathadwimpybite/24668053/SIG=11nsdukp6/*http://www.space.com/php/contactus/feedback.php?r=jbr)
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/byline/sabertoothedcathadwimpybite/24668053/SIG=10sog4vj6/*http://www.livescience.com) 1 hour, 27 minutes ago
<!-- end storyhdr -->The saber-toothed cat just lost some of its swagger. Long considered a most fearsome predator among Ice Age giants, at least one species of saber-tooth bit more like a "pussycat," new research suggests.
About the size of a modern African lion, but much heftier, Smilodon fatalis (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/sabertoothedcathadwimpybite/24668053/SIG=1csl37ivl/*http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=071001_smilodon_02.jpg&cap=Weighing+an+average+of+550+pounds+%28250+kilog rams%29%2C+this+saber-toothed+cat%2C+Smilodon+fatalis%2C+had+a+weaker+bi te+than+modern-day+lions.+The+cat+studied+is+the+famed+saber-toothed+tiger.+Credit%3A+John+Conway%2FPNAS&title=Saber-Toothed+Cat+Had+Wimpy+Bite&title=Saber-Toothed%20Cat%20Had%20Wimpy%20Bite) has captured popular imagination for decades, most recently as "Diego" in the animated film "Ice Age." The cat is often referred to as the saber-toothed tiger, though scientists say this is misleading, as Smilodon and related species are more closely related to lions.
While there are several saber-toothed cats, this Smilodon species is the most well-preserved in the fossil record, showing the animal likely prowled across the grasslands of North America and parts of South America until about 9,000 or 10,000 years ago when saber-tooths became extinct.
For more than a century, scientists have debated how the cat used its knife-like teeth called sabers to take down formidable prey, such as bison, horses and perhaps even mammoths (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/sabertoothedcathadwimpybite/24668053/SIG=11ujkrbm3/*http://www.livescience.com/animals/070521_comet_climate.html).
A new study, posted online today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds the saber-tooth was more of a kitty cat, with a bite with just one-third the strength of a lion. More (http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20071001/sc_livescience/sabertoothedcathadwimpybite)
Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.com (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/byline/sabertoothedcathadwimpybite/24668053/SIG=10sog4vj6/*http://www.livescience.com) 1 hour, 27 minutes ago
<!-- end storyhdr -->The saber-toothed cat just lost some of its swagger. Long considered a most fearsome predator among Ice Age giants, at least one species of saber-tooth bit more like a "pussycat," new research suggests.
About the size of a modern African lion, but much heftier, Smilodon fatalis (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/sabertoothedcathadwimpybite/24668053/SIG=1csl37ivl/*http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=071001_smilodon_02.jpg&cap=Weighing+an+average+of+550+pounds+%28250+kilog rams%29%2C+this+saber-toothed+cat%2C+Smilodon+fatalis%2C+had+a+weaker+bi te+than+modern-day+lions.+The+cat+studied+is+the+famed+saber-toothed+tiger.+Credit%3A+John+Conway%2FPNAS&title=Saber-Toothed+Cat+Had+Wimpy+Bite&title=Saber-Toothed%20Cat%20Had%20Wimpy%20Bite) has captured popular imagination for decades, most recently as "Diego" in the animated film "Ice Age." The cat is often referred to as the saber-toothed tiger, though scientists say this is misleading, as Smilodon and related species are more closely related to lions.
While there are several saber-toothed cats, this Smilodon species is the most well-preserved in the fossil record, showing the animal likely prowled across the grasslands of North America and parts of South America until about 9,000 or 10,000 years ago when saber-tooths became extinct.
For more than a century, scientists have debated how the cat used its knife-like teeth called sabers to take down formidable prey, such as bison, horses and perhaps even mammoths (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/storytext/sabertoothedcathadwimpybite/24668053/SIG=11ujkrbm3/*http://www.livescience.com/animals/070521_comet_climate.html).
A new study, posted online today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds the saber-tooth was more of a kitty cat, with a bite with just one-third the strength of a lion. More (http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20071001/sc_livescience/sabertoothedcathadwimpybite)
Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!