A new analysis of fossils from Argentina reveals that sabre-toothed cats known as Smilodon could crunch through the hard bones of large prey animals.
Researchers examined bones from megafauna at Salto de Piedra, a site about 350 kilometres south of Buenos Aires. The remains date from between 22,200 and 13,300 years ago and include giant armadillos, land sloths and mastodons.
Yolanda Fernandez-Jalvo at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid led the study. Her team measured tooth marks on the bones and found punctures and grooves that matched the size and shape of Smilodon canines exactly. The marks showed that the cats had broken through cortical bone, which makes up 80 per cent of bone structure.
"We were all surprised," Fernandez-Jalvo said. "The conical tooth mark of the fossil bone matched perfectly in size and shape with the Smilodon large canines."
Federico Agnolín of the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences, who was not involved in the work, said the findings indicate the sabres were mechanically much more robust than traditionally believed. The study was published in BMC Ecology and Evolution.