Cats have two evolutionary lineages – one is for the “true” cats and the other evolutionary line is the sabre-toothed cats that are extinct now.

Cats are carnivores meaning it is an animal that feeds on other animals.

A famous example of a sabre-tooth cat is a Smilodon cat like Diego, the one we see in Ice Age the movie. The Smilodon (sabre-tooth tigers) were about 1.5 times the size of a lion (1).

Sabre tooth cats are extinct however the clouded leopard cat is the closest we have in the world with the extreme trait of long canine teeth in relation to their body size (2).

The long upper canine teeth of the clouded leopard cat are still a lot smaller compared to the size of the teeth that sabre tooth cats had. Sabre tooth cats were known for their extremely long dirk like upper canine teeth (2).

In order to survive animals must be able to adapt – therefore interspecies adaptation evolution help species to adapt to their environment.

There is a lot of unknown factors about the time when the sabre-tooth cats walked on the earth – and the reasons for their specific adaptation with such long canines are not entirely understood (2).

The long canine teeth most likely enabled these cats to kill larger prey instantly, how they actually ate them is still shrouded in mystery.

One theory for the evolution of these long canine teeth in sabre-tooth cats is that they co-existed with larger prey species and as solitary hunters, they had to adapt or die in order to kill larger prey species alone. When cats kill their prey – there are two well described methods.

One method is where they bite their prey via a precision bite, severing their arteries and killing their prey instantly. The other method is where they suffocate their prey or a muzzle bite(we see this often when lions catch buffalo) (2).

The killing method applied often depend on the size of the prey (1).

The short tail of the sabre tooth tiger indicate that it was most likely not build for speed (1). Their muscular upper body and heavier build indicate that they relied on their strength to catch their prey(1).

In short, the sabre-tooth tigers ambushed their prey. It then used its forelimbs to knock it down and then delivered the killing bite with its long canine teeth (3).

The killing bite was precise and accurate in severing the arteries and nerves of the prey animal. The ability of sabre tooth cats to open their mouth far enough to bite with their canines has been studied.

The studies found that their ability to open their mouths that wide, decreased their bite force and that they must have also used their muscular neck to kill their prey (3, 4). Sabre tooth cats used their neck muscles to stab their prey with their long canine teeth.

Side note: Therefore if we apply sabre tooth tiger anatomy on vampire theory: in order for vampires to bite their prey they must have gigantic neck muscles – so the most likely vampires that we will find in our society are rugby players.

Sabre-tooth tigers then ate all parts of the carcass, not only the meat (3).

True cats are also designed for precision biting.

True cats tend to hunt smaller prey, however when they hunt larger prey their method of killing shifts to suffocate their prey or muzzle bite. Cats also eat all parts of a carcass, not only the meat of their prey.

Anatomically cats are carnivores.

During studies done on the bones of the head – the temporomandibular joint (the joint between the lower jaw and the rest of the head) only moves in an orthogonal way (up and down) during biting and chewing (4).

In short Sabre tooth tigers are not true cats, although they have similarities to true cats. Both are carnivores and need to consume most part of animal carcasses not just the meat.

When a domestic cat, catch a bird – it will eat the meat and part of the intestines, consuming a wide range of nutrients. We are responsible to provide our cats with a balanced carnivorous diet.

During our stewardship in providing for our cats we should also not harm them by providing food e.g. bones that could cause blockages, perforations, and constipation.

Our domestic cats are domesticated, meaning that we want them to live a longer happy life than what they would have lived in the wild. Domestic cats have a longer life expectancy than wild cats because we look after them and provide them with healthcare when needed.

Resources:

1. Anyonge W. Locomotor behaviour in Plio-Pleistocene sabre-tooth cats: a biomechanical analysis. Journal of Zoology. 1996;238(3):395-413.
2. Harano T, Kutsukake N. Directional selection in the evolution of elongated upper canines in clouded leopards and sabre-toothed cats. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 2018;31(9):1268-83.
3. Meachen JA, O'Keefe FR, Sadleir RW. Evolution in the sabre-tooth cat, <i>Smilodon fatalis</i>, in response to Pleistocene climate change. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 2014;27(4):714-23.
4. Christiansen PER. A dynamic model for the evolution of sabrecat predatory bite mechanics. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 2011;162(1):220-42.