HOME | DD
Kiwano0 — Smilodon study: Teeth and lips
#cat #fangs #fatalis #feline #jaw #populator #prehistoric #sabertooth #sabertoothcat #sabertoothtiger #science #scientific #smilodon #smilodonfatalis #tasmanian #tasmaniantiger #tasmanianwolf #teeth #thylacine #tiger #wolf #smilodonpopulator #scientifical #scimitarcat #thylacinuscynocephalus #smilodonlips
Published: 2019-08-13 14:59:52 +0000 UTC; Views: 5776; Favourites: 135; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description
Update January 2021: I remade all the drawings and tried to summarise it a bit, so it's not so cluttered. If you want me to add any idea or I'm missing something, just leave me a comment 
Update June 2020: I'm going to remake this in a better quality as soon as my new tablet arrives (in late October/November).
I'm not a fan of the theory that Smilodons had those bulldog lips... But I thought I should maybe take a neutral look at it. I still don't accept that theory unless it gets a scientifical verification.
While doing some researches I found this article about Smilodons fangs:
www.researchgate.net/publicati…
So I made some sketches myself. Please ignore the typing errors. I had the idea that the tooth might have been covered in an unknown material, which decaied after the Smilodons death. The root of the tooth is not black of course, I just coloured it that way to make it more visible.
I also read somewhere that Smilodon has to cover its teeth since they're not made of the same material as the tusks of walrus, narwhals or tusked deers . However, I couldn't find that article or any other statements about this.
Don't copy and/or use anything without my permission
Artwork © Kiwano0
Related content
Comments: 28
👍: 1 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Interesante wissenschaftliche Studie.
Ich bin kein Biologe, aber ich glaube, dass der Kopf des Smilodons etwa wie die Zeichnung in der Mitte der erster Reihe war, wenn wir an moderner große Katzen denken...
Ich glaube, dass der Kaugummi den Oberkiefer etwas mehr als ,,die Wurzel" des großes Fanges und rund halb die kleiner Vorderzähne bedeckt (der Kaugummi ist genauso wichtig für alle Zähne, oder? ^^).
In Bezug auf die Lippen, Ich zustimme auch, dass die Oberlippe der ganzer Oberkaugummi bedeckt, da wenn ich mich nicht irre, es keines Säugetier gibt, das der ganzer Kaugummi vorführt (Wurzel des großen Reißzahns enthalten), sogar wenn der Mund geschlossen ist, oder?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Vielen Dank Alan
Ich glaube auch, dass der mittlere Kopf in der ersten Reihe am meisten zeigt, wie Smilodon ausgesehen hätte.
(Kaugummi heisst "chewing gum" 
Ich glaube auch dass die Oberlippe den Zahn über die Wurzel abdeckt (eben wie das mittlere Bild in der ersten Reihe). Aber so "Bulldog Lippen" wo der ganze Zahn komplett abgedeckt ist wäre beim kämpfen sehr unpraktisch und ich glaube Smilodon hat sehr viel gekämpft
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
whops! Ja, du hast Recht 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Kein Problem, ich habe schon verstanden was du gemeint hast
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
The fact is, the lipped model requires a level of soft-tissue lippage which not only opposes the feline EPB, but would be unprecedented among any living mammal. How would lips of that size actually function? It's difficult to imagine how the obicularis oris would work in this model: this would be enormous, dropping ring of muscle around the mouth, and I'm not sure how it could be cleared from the teeth when biting and feeding, assuming normal principles of mammalian face musculature. It's possible that Smilodon had a unique facial myology of course, although the consistency of face muscles across mammals argues for this being unlikely. Such muscles controlling the lip would need to be very large, and it would be expected to see some indication of this on the skull itself as we do in other mammals with sophisticated facial soft-tissues (like trunks and proboscides). Generations of people who know carnivoran anatomy very well have pored over machairodont skulls and never commented on such features.
Regarding a lower lip coverage in particular, it must be noted that most carnivorous mammals hava very large, fleshy upper lips over thinner, tightly-bound soft tissues of the lower jaw, so unless Smilodon and kin had lip anatomy completely unlike their modern relatives, their canine teeth must have been exposed (Witton 2018). Of course there's the exception of the clouded leopard, which sheaths a long set of canines in its lower jaw, but they're not even close to the size of Smilodon's sabers.
Regarding canine configuration, while it's likely that Smilodon canine function lacks exact modern functional analogues, the sabre teeth of tusked deer are not too far off in terms of physical demand (being routinely used in aggressive, tissue-tearing fights that leave victims scarred and wounded) and anatomy (thin layers of enamel over much of the tooth - Smilodon canines are not thickly enamelled), and still these animals have them exposed.
As a general rule, especially long teeth which project a considerable distance from the margins of the skull and lower jaw should be considered strong candidates for permanent exposure.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I have no idea how lips that size should function
That's a good point. Indeed, Smilodon would needa large set of muscles around his head and face and the skull would show that. I agree with you, Smilodons have been studied for ages and no scientist made a statement that Smilodons had those "bulldog lips".
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I know. In fact, I'm not a fan of the "bulldog" lip theory and I still don't accept that theory unless it gets a scientifical verification. I just wanted to take a neutral look at it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Also Miller (1969) already proposed that Smilodon would have evolved a long lip line, reaching much farther back than that of modern cats-an adaptation that, in Miller's view, would have allowed the animal to achieve the large gapes necessary in order to bite with the sabers.
However, in modern cats, the posterior border of the lip line while in a relaxed position is slightly anterior to the anterior fibers of the masseter muscle. Considering that living felids are the extant sister group to the extinct subfamily Machairodontinae, it seems safe on phylogenetic grounds to transfer the observed relationships between bone and soft tissue to the fossil species, but that inference would be even more robust if the same relationships existed in the outgroup. We can choose as our outgroup the next closest relative of machairodontines, which might be either the viverrids or the hyenids. The choice would make no difference in this case, because in both families the examined features are the same as in cats-in fact, the same condition is observed in all modern members of the order Carnivora.
The idea that a longer mouth aperture was necessary to provide for large gapes revealed a limited observation of modern animals. Hippos and, to a lesser degree, peccaries oper their mouths to enormous gapes (well beyond 100 degrees, in the case of hippos) in order to display their canines, but they have "normal" mouth apertures that never reach behind the anterior margin of the masseter-the tissues of the mouth walls are simply more flexible than we tend to imagine. Even lions or tigers, when yawning with their jaws at gapes of around 70 degrees (a point where one would think that their mouth walls are as stretched as can be), can pull their lips back to bare their teeth in a grimacing gesture, showing that their stretching ability is far from having reached its limit (Antón 2013).
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
That was really interesting to read, thanks a lot
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Sorry for butting in but I kinda want this whole comment chain engraved on a wooden paddle for occasional determined use around the site.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yeah since Nash's blogposts this has become a sort of paleoart meme, reappearing every now and then, however Nash himself has abandoned this idea after a discussion with Witton in the comment section of one of Witton's blogposts, from which I took the majority of the informations.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Interesting study! Ive always wanted to try to study anatomy, its very complex yet super fun to get into
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thank you
It sure is complex, but it's a lot fun to do all the scientific researches ^^
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Due to fights the little tooth skin would get infected, watching felines and canines fight, they smack the face, and that could make the tooth just jut through and blood galore, much like lions where the fang gets stuck in flesh or hooked upon something.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You mean the permanent "pouch" on the chin? Yes, I agree, if the pouch is permanent, the risk that it gets ripped during fights is quite high. This would cause again infections. If the pouch gets ripped of completely, the tooth doesn't has a protection from the elements anymore. So the tooth still needed a protection on its own like an additional layer or something.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I'm thinking it may have been baboon-like. Where the lip contracts back an amazing amount to unsheath it's teeth.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
That's an interesting idea. In my opinion, this seems like a better idea than the "pouch" on the chin. If the lip contracts back when Smilodon opens its jaw, food and stuff can't be "stored" in the pouches and therefore not create infections. I might add this idea to the drawing
👍: 1 ⏩: 1
Regarding the drawing. There seems to be a slight height difference between the upper when it is open as apposed to when it is closed. It's like the drawing is fighting the will a bit. I'm thinking perhaps include a bit more of the neck so you can start the head off with more of an upward tilt. Then you will be able to only perturb the lower jaw. That's something I found useful for drawing striking snakes. Should help here as well I think.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0