Morphological convergence of the prey-killing arsenal of sabertooth predators

Sabertooth members of the Felidae, Nimravidae, and Barbourofelidae are well-known for their elongated saber-shaped canines. However, within these groups, there is a wide range of independently derived tooth shapes and lengths, including dirk-tooth and scimitar-tooth morphs. In conjunction with the saberteeth, forelimbs were also used to subdue prey. Thus, there may be a functional link between canine shape and forelimb morphology. Because there are no living sabertooth forms for comparison, extant felids make a good proxy for examining the morphology of these extinct organisms. Here, I examine the forelimb morphology of different sabertooth groups from across North America; I address whether forelimb morphologies are associated with tooth morphologies, and whether these associated tooth and forelimb morphologies are convergent among different families. To answer these questions, I analyzed six functional indices of the forelimbs and two canine characters for 13 species of sabertooth pre...