Saber-toothed Kittens Born with Thick Bones

According to a study, saber toothed kittens may have been born with thicker bones when compared to other contemporary cats. It becomes more striking when one gets to know that both of them shows similar pattern of bone development. The study got published on 27^th September, 2017 in the open access journal PLOS ONE. The study was conducted by Katherine Long and her colleagues from California State Polytechnic University, USA.

It has been found that Saber-toothed cats, scientifically known as Smilodon fatalis were recognized as having thick skeletons as compared to other wild cats. These cats are from Pleistocene (37,000 to 9,000 years ago) and how and when these cats developed such strong bones is a mystery. Long and colleagues measured as well as analyzed hundreds of bones at various stages of development from Smilodon and the modern day tiger – sized cat Panthera atrox. This was done to study about the growth of Smilodon bones and to compare it with similar species. The study was conducted in the La Brea Tar Pits museum.

By: Bhavna Sharma

Content: phys.org