Machairodontinae 1223797 221742322 2008-06-25T21:58:38Z CommonsDelinker 2304267 Removing "La_Brea_Saber-tooth_Model.jpg", it has been deleted from Commons by [[commons:User:MichaelMaggs|MichaelMaggs]] because: per [[w:commons:Commons:Deletion_requests/Image:La_Brea_Saber-tooth_Model.jpg]]. {{Taxobox | name = Machairodontinae | fossil_range = Early [[Miocene]] to Late [[Pleistocene]] | image = Smilodon californicus.jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = ''[[Smilodon californicus]]'' fossil at the<br>[[National Museum of Natural History]], [[Washington, DC]] | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Chordata]] | classis = [[Mammal]]ia | ordo = [[Carnivora]] | familia = [[Felidae]] | subfamilia = †'''Machairodontinae''' | subfamilia_authority = [[Theodore Nicholas Gill|Gill]], 1872 | subdivision_ranks = Tribes | subdivision = †[[Machairodontini]]<br> †[[Smilodontini]] }} The '''Machairodontinae''' form a subfamily of the [[Felidae]] (true cats). It contains some of the extinct cats commonly known as "[[saber-toothed cat]]s", including the famed genus ''[[Smilodon]]'' as well as other cats with only minor increases in the size and length of their [[maxillary canine|maxillary canines]]. Sometimes other carnivorous mammals with elongated teeth are also called saber-toothed cats, although they do not belong to the felids. Besides the machairodonts, saber-toothed predators arose in the [[Nimravidae]],the [[Barbourofelidae]], the [[Creodonta]] (''[[Machaeroides]]'') and even in the [[Marsupials]] (''[[Thylacosmilus]]'')<ref name="Fossils explained 52">Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende, Michael Morlo, Doris Nagel: ''Fossils explained 52 Majestic killers: the sabre-toothed cats.'' Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Geology Today, Vol. 22, No. 4, July–August 2006 [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2451.2006.00572.x online]</ref>. ==Evolution== The Machairodontinae obviously originated in the early or middle [[Miocene]] of Africa. The early felid ''[[Pseudaelurus]] quadridentatus'' showed a trend towards elongated upper canines and is believed to be at the base of the machairodontine evolution <ref>Jordi Augusti: ''Mammoths, Sabertooths and Hominids 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe'', Columbia University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-231-11640-3</ref>. The earliest known machairodontid genus is the middle Miocene ''[[Miomachairodus]]'' from Africa and Turkey <ref>{{cite journal | author = Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende, Michael Morlo & Doris Nagel | title = Fossils explained 52 Majestic killers: the sabre-toothed cats | journal = Geology Today | volume = 22 | issue = 4 | pages = 150 | month = July | yeah = 2006}}</ref>. Until the late Miocene machairodontines co-existed at several places together with [[Barbourofelidae|barbourofelids]], archaic large carnivores, bearing also long sabreteeth <ref name="Fossils explained 52">Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende, Michael Morlo, Doris Nagel: ''Fossils explained 52 Majestic killers: the sabre-toothed cats.'' Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Geology Today, Vol. 22, No. 4, July–August 2006 [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2451.2006.00572.x online]</ref>. Traditionally three different tribes of machairodontines were recognized, the '''[[Smilodontini]]''' with typical dirk-toothed forms like ''[[Megantereon]]'' and ''[[Smilodon]]'', the '''[[Machairodontini]]''' or '''Homotherini''' with scimitar-toothed cats like ''[[Machairodus]]'' or ''[[Homotherium]]'' and the '''[[Metailurini]]''', containing generea like ''[[Dinofelis]]'' and ''[[Metailurus]]''. However, recently the Metailurini are grouped within another felid subfamily, the Felinae, not into the Machairodontinae <ref name="Fossils explained 52">Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende, Michael Morlo, Doris Nagel: ''Fossils explained 52 Majestic killers: the sabre-toothed cats.'' Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Geology Today, Vol. 22, No. 4, July–August 2006 [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2451.2006.00572.x online]</ref>. The last machairodontine genera ''Smilodon'' and ''Homotherium'' disappeared not until the latest [[Pleistocene]], roughly 10.000 years ago in the Americas. [[Image:Megantereon cultridens.jpg|thumb|180px|Reconstruction of ''Megantereon'']] The name 'saber-toothed tigers' is misleading. Machairodonts were not even in the same subfamily as tigers, there is no evidence that they had tiger-like coat patterns, and this broad group of animals certainly did not all live or hunt in the same manner as the modern [[tiger]]. [[Polymerase chain reaction|DNA analysis]] published in 2005 confirmed and clarified [[cladistics|cladistic analysis]] in showing that the Machairodontinae diverged early from the ancestors of modern cats and are not closely related to any living feline species <ref name="Fossils explained 52">Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende, Michael Morlo, Doris Nagel: ''Fossils explained 52 Majestic killers: the sabre-toothed cats.'' Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Geology Today, Vol. 22, No. 4, July–August 2006 [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2451.2006.00572.x online]</ref>. Sabertooths also coexisted in many places together with [[conical-toothed cats]]. In [[Africa]] and Eurasia, sabertooths competed with several [[Pantherinae|pantherine]]s and [[cheetahs]] until the early or middle Pleistocene. ''Homotherium'' survived in Northern Europe even until the late Pleistocene. In the Americas the coexisted together with [[cougar]], [[American lion]], [[American Cheetah]], and [[Jaguar]] until the latest Pleistocene. Saber-toothed and conical-toothed cats competed with each other for food resources, until the last of the former became extinct. All recent felids have more or less conical-shaped upper canines. ==Teeth== Machairodonts are divided into two types: dirk-toothed and scimitar-toothed. Dirk-toothed cats had elongated, narrow upper canines and generally had stocky bodies. Scimitar-toothed cats had broader and shorter upper canines and a typically lither body form with longer legs. The longer-toothed cats often had a bony [[flange]] that extended from their lower mandible. However, one genus, ''[[Xenosmilus]]'', known only from two fairly complete fossils, broke this mould, possessing both the stout heavy limbs associated with dirk-toothed cats, and the stout canines of a scimitar-toothed cat. ==Hunting techniques== The method by which machairodonts hunted is hotly debated. It was originally thought that they used a 'stabbing' motion with their teeth (dropping their jaws wide open, baring their teeth, and thrashing downward). However, this is now considered unlikely, for the teeth, being so long, were fragile, and a large prey animal thrashing about could easily injure the teeth, which would impair hunting. Some scientists suggest that the cats slashed at the bellies of large animals with their teeth and waited for them to die of blood loss, although the risk of breakage would still be high. When the bite of a dirk toothed cat is matched against the neck of a large [[ungulate]], however, it shows that the bite would sever all arteries and veins, while acting as a clamp around the windpipe. This method would still have been risky for the teeth if the prey moved too much, but less risky than the stabbing method; with the neck bite, the cat would be anchored with its incisors and lower canines. Also, if the cats worked in prides (there is evidence that some species may have), they could have subdued the animal before performing the killing bite. == Genera == [[Image:Homotheriumtex2.JPG|thumb|150px|Skull of the scimitar-toothed ''Homotherium serum'' from [[Friesenhahn cave]], [[Texas Memorial Museum]]]] [[Image:Smilodon fatalis, Pengo.jpg|thumb|150px|Skull of the dirk-toothed ''Smilodon fatalis''.]] The genera of Machairodontines<ref>McKenna, M., Bell, K.,: Classification of Mammals: Above the Species Level. Columbia University Press; Auflage: New Ed; 2000.</ref>: '''Machairodontini''' *'''''[[Machairodus]]''''': Miocene; Eurasia, Africa and North America *'''''[[Homotherium]]''''': early Pliocene<ref>Alan Turner: ''The Evolution of the guild of larger terrestrial carnivores during the Plio-Pleistocene in Africa''. Geobios, no 23, fasc. 3, p. 349-368, 1990.</ref> to latest Pleistocene; Eurasia, Africa and North America *'''''[[Xenosmilus]]''''': early Pleistocene; North America<ref> L. D. Martin et al.: ''Three Ways To Be a Saber-Toothed Cat.'' Naturwissenschaften, Springer Berlin / Heidelberg, 1999. [http://www.springerlink.com/content/h0h54wfnbvuanqvg/fulltext.pdf online] </ref> *'''''[[Lokontailurus]]''''': late Miocene; Africa<ref name="Fossils explained 52">Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende, Michael Morlo, Doris Nagel: ''Fossils explained 52 Majestic killers: the sabre-toothed cats.'' Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Geology Today, Vol. 22, No. 4, July–August 2006 [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2451.2006.00572.x online]</ref> *'''''[[Miomachairodus]]''''': middle Miocene; North Africa, Turkey *'''''[[Hemimachairodus]]''''': Pleistocene; Java '''[[Smilodontini]]''' *'''''[[Paramachairodus]]'''''<ref>{{cite book |last=Turner |first=Alan |year=1997 |title= The Big Cats and their fossil relatives|publisher= Columbia University Press|location=New York|pages= 60|isbn= 0-231-10228-3}}</ref>: middle to late Miocene; Europe and Asia *'''''[[Megantereon]]''''': early Pliocene to middle Pleistocene; Europe, Asia, Africa, North America *'''''[[Smilodon]]''''': late Pliocene to latest Pleistocene, North and South America ==Notes and References== <!---Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2005, 144, 363–377---> {{wikispecies}} <div class="references-small"> *[http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-08/cp-dte080305.php Report on Barnett group's study in ''Current Biology'' August 9, 2005]: Ross Barnett et al.: "Evolution of the extinct Sabretooths and the American cheetah-like cat" in ''Current Biology'', Vol. 15, R589-R590, August 9, 2005 <references/> </div> [[Category:Prehistoric felines]] [[Category:Saber-toothed cats]] [[ca:Macairodontí]] [[cs:tygr šavlozubý]] [[de:Säbelzahnkatzen]] [[es:Machairodontinae]] [[fr:Machairodontinae]] [[it:Machairodontinae]] [[he:שן חרביים]] [[hu:Kardfogú macskák]] [[no:Sabeltannkatter]] [[pl:Machajrodonty]] [[pt:Machairodontinae]] [[fi:Machairodontinae]] [[sv:Machairodontinae]] [[zh:劍齒虎亞科]]