Marsupial lion tops African lion in figh...( Pound for pound Australias extinct m...)
Pound for pound, Australias extinct marsupial lion (Thylacoleo carnifex) would have made mince meat of todays African lion (Panthera leo) had the two big hyper-carnivores ever squared off in a fight to the death, according to an Australian scientist.
New research published in the Journal of Zoology suggests that Thylacoleo killed prey rapidly, using its bolt-cutter type teeth to scissor through hide and flesh to produce major trauma and blood loss.
By contrast, African lions and similar big cats of today use their bite force to suffocate prey, using a clamp and hold technique that can take up to 15 minutes with large prey such as Cape buffalo.
My results suggest that the marsupial lion employed a unique killing technique, says research author Stephen Wroe. It used its massive carnassial cheekteeth to effect major trauma and a rapid kill. Unlike any living mammalian carnivores, the marsupials carnassials were not only butchery tools but also active components in the killing process.
Using a sophisticated computer modelling method [finite element (FE) analysis], that renders dynamic 3D models based on CT scans of the marsupials cranial mechanics and musculoskeletal architecture, Wroe has revealed that the creatures skull, jaw, and head and neck muscles were well adapted to using the unique technique for killing large prey, but not for delivering the prolonged suffocating bite of living big cats.
The marsupial lion also had an extremely efficient bite, Wroe says. In addition to very powerful jaw muscles for its size, its muscle and skull architecture were arranged in such a way as to take greater advantage of leverage than in living cats.
Wroe, who has published findings about bite force in other hypercarnivores, such as great white sharks and sabre tooth tigers, believes there is now no doubt that Australias marsupial lion was a fearsome predator that punched well above its weight.
Certainly, T carn
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| Contact: Stephen Wroe s.wroe@unsw.edu.au 61-425-330-273 University of New South Wales Source:Eurekalert |
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