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Modern big cats kill mainly by strangling their victims, which may take a few minutes. Smilodon's jaw muscles were probably too weak for this and its long canines would have been vulnerable to snapping in a prolonged struggle. Research in 2007 concluded that that Smilodon more probably used its great upper-body strength to wrestle prey to the ground, where its long canines could deliver a deep stabbing bite to the throat which would generally cut through the jugular vein and / or the trachea and thus kill the prey very quickly.[5] The leaders of this study also commented to scientific journalists that this technique may have made Smilodon a more efficient killer of large prey than modern lions or tigers, but also made it more dependent on the supply of large animals. This highly-specialized hunting style may have contributed to its extinction, as Smilodon's cumbersome build and over-sized canines would have made it less efficient at killing smaller, faster prey if the ecosystem changed for any reason.

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17y ago

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