| Thylacosmilus Fossil range: Miocene–Early Pleistocene |
||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Thylacosmilus atrox and Mesotherium
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Species | ||||||||||||||
|
T. atrox |
Thylacosmilus ("pouch sabre") was a genus of sabre-toothed metatherian 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, which it resembles only because 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. [1]
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.[citation needed]
References
- 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
- Thylacosmilus (marsupial sabre-tooth)
- Art by Maximo Salas
- Skull of Thylacosmilus
- Comparison of Thylacosmilus (upper) and Smilodon (below)
 |
Wikispecies has information related to: Thylacosmilus |
 |
This article related to prehistoric animals from order Carnivora is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
