Spines of saber-toothed cats tell a tale of the doomed species
Researchers found 3 rare spinal nerve tumors and hundreds of deformities in 3,722 saber-toothed cat vertebrae, pointing to inbreeding before extinction.
5 Articles
5 Articles
Saber-toothed cats' spinal tumors suggest inbred species struggled to survive
The fossilized spines of saber-toothed cats in the La Brea Tar Pits reveal evidence of an unexpectedly high prevalence of rare spinal nerve tumors, suggesting that the species became inbred just before extinction. These tumors, which cause significant pain and reduced limb function, could have made the cats particularly vulnerable to the lure of prey animals stuck in the tar pits.
Rare Spinal Tumors Found in Saber-Toothed Cats Trapped at La Brea May Hint at Inbreeding Before Extinction
Learn how fossilized vertebrae from California’s La Brea Tar Pits may link nerve tumors, difficult hunts, and inbreeding as saber-toothed cats neared extinction.
Evidence of the disappearance of sabre-toothed cats emerges from fossils buried in the sticky pits of La Brea Tar Pits in California. Fossils of missing predators preserved in tar reveal a variety of diseases of the spine. These included a high frequency of a normally rare tumor, reports [...]
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