How saber - toothed cats used their jaws has been a decades - sure-enough debate . Lions today subdue great quarry by using a choke pharynx bite , but the spectacularly long upper dogtooth ofSmilodon fatalissuggest they practice another pungency mechanism . We often imagine them using their blade - alike canines to ferociously cut down their prey , and either eviscerate them or await for them to bleed out – but what about the lower jaw ? Without an opposing force , the sabertooths belike could n’t generate enough force to butcher something large . A research worker now propose a new insect bite role model – one that works like a can opener . Thestudywas published inPLOS ONEthis hebdomad .
While jaw function is still heatedly debated , researchers currently favor the “ eye tooth shear - sharpness . ” That ’s when neck opening muscles called ventral neck flexor muscle help the mandible in closing the jaws . After sting into the prey with the lower jaw , the cervix muscles essentially roll the head teacher forward , then downwardly in a nod movement to power the bite . However , the mechanical feasibility of this cervix - powered biting has n’t been demonstrate .
Independent researcherJeffrey Brownmanipulated digitized persona of aS. fatalisneck and skull and find that revolution of the cranium by the ventral neck flexors would n’t result in jaw closedown . The braincase and mandible end up rotating together , and the jaws remain in an open form . Also , with its backtalk open widely enough to get its tooth around the prey , the saber-toothed tiger ’s bite forces would be pretty weak .
Brown proposes a new forelimb - powered “ Class 1 lever mechanics ” forSmilodonjaw function – which utilize a motion standardised to piercing a can with a can opener , Science report . But not the modern kind where you deform a handgrip to rotate a wheel with sharp border , but theold - timey can openerwith a lever tumbler handle and a pointed tip , which plug triangular holes in the hat .
In this modelling ( pictured above ) , the mandible is immobilized against the neck of the fair game ( like the bottom hook of the can opener ) , and force from the extension of the forelimbs rotate the head . So when the African tea pushes down on the ground with its arms , that increases its leveraging by lift the base of the neck opening and rotate the head forth ( imagine how your hand and arm move when you puncture a can that agency . ) Then the long canine pierce and clamp down on the prey ’s neck . So , first theybulldog , and then they strike .
[ ViaScience ]
