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Xenosmilus

Adam Khor · 2011-10-20 16:38:30

Not a new discovery, but it seems that a scientist has just released a book on American scimitar cats which talks a lot about Xenosmilus hodsonae, a sabertoothed cat that was more robust than Smilodon and had serrated teeth (all teeth, not just the fangs), making it the feline equivalent of a shark. It has been described…

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20-10-2011 5:38pm

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Adam Khor

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Not a new discovery, but it seems that a scientist has just released a book on American scimitar cats which talks a lot about Xenosmilus hodsonae, a sabertoothed cat that was more robust than Smilodon and had serrated teeth (all teeth, not just the fangs), making it the feline equivalent of a shark. It has been described as having "a mouthful of steak knives".
Xenosmilus did not strangle its prey or break its spine like modern day cats; instead, it took out huge chunks of flesh from its body, like a shark or a theropod, causing massive blood loss and shock. Its kills would have been much messier than those of modern day cats- they would probably be censored in Animal Planet

The article mentions some interesting factoids, like Xenosmilus probably having a "Roman nose" profile instead of a straight square snout like a lion, and probably "jowls like a St. Bernard... drooled like one too".

Scary animal...

http://newssun.suntimes.com/news/8270777-418/niu-prof-ids-new-breed-of-prehistoric-saber-tooth-cat.html

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