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artbyjrc β Thylacosmilus skull
#marsupial #museum #thylacosmilus
Published: 2020-07-09 10:52:50 +0000 UTC; Views: 2902; Favourites: 72; Downloads: 1
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Thylacosmilus atrox, Natural History Museum (London), UK
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We now know that this extraordinary sparassodont was nothing like a saber tooth, but filled in an entirely unique and bizarre niche not presented today.
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- isotopic data indicates Thylacosmilus really was predatory
- relying on scavenging would be extremely unusual (to say the least) among flightless vertebrates, if not outright energetically impossible. Scavenging is NOT an easy lifestyle as way too many people assume; the fact the search time for scavengers is far longer than that for predators more than nullifies the benefits of reduced handling and processing time.
- we donβt actually have a well-preserved maxilla for Thylacosmilus so it may have had upper incisors after all (in fact wear patterns do seem to suggest this), meaning the idea it couldnβt consume meat effectively would be false.
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When I said saber tooth, I meant the cats. Sorry for the confusion.
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