Here kitty, kitty....

[Purron]

Check this out:

Saber-Toothed Cat Unearthed : Discovery News

Serious fangs on this cat!

 

[Westernskies]

Check this out:

Saber-Toothed Cat Unearthed : Discovery News

Serious fangs on this cat!

Good link; the cat is cool, but the carnivourous kangaroos sound especially interesting...

 

[bbbamI]

....and tree-dwelling crocodiles!

 

[Purron]

....and tree-dwelling crocodiles!

Yeah, no more griping about squirrels

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

Am I looking at this skull wrong or are the eyes on the sides of the head instead of forward facing like most hunters?

 

[CuppaJoe]

What the _____ ! Kitty is in Australia! Has the California state fossil gone chasing rabbits? Gotta study up on this.

California State Fossil

 

[Purron]

Am I looking at this skull wrong or are the eyes on the sides of the head instead of forward facing like most hunters?

Yeah, I noticed that too. Here's another interesting fact about this find:

"the skull of the newly found cat was small enough to fit in the palm of your hand"

Source: Sabre tooth tiger fossil discovered | Herald Sun

So, not a big kitty at all. Just big ole fangs in comparison to the body. I would love to see what this animal looked like in life. Not much like my former foster kitty Peggy Sue I suspect...

 

[Westernskies]

I would love to see what this animal looked like in life. Not much like my former foster kitty Peggy Sue I suspect...

maybe, maybe not...

 

[CuppaJoe]

maybe, maybe not...

Always wondered what mice think being toyed with by such a cutie.

 

[Purron]

maybe, maybe not...

Eeek!

 

[TromboneAl]

Am I looking at this skull wrong or are the eyes on the sides of the head instead of forward facing like most hunters?

Here's a tiger skull for comparison.

 

[calmloki]

The whole saber tooth thing is a puzzle - seems awfully awkward for eating, and in the case of this kitty I imagine this scene:

Saberkitteh lurks unseen in the shadows awaiting prey. Giant platypus waddles by and saberkitteh leaps on it's back and plunges her fangs deep in the muscle of platy's neck. Platypus quacks out in pain (no echo from the surrounding cliffs) and accelerates her waddle, dislodging kitteh's grip with her claws. Two days later Platy is still waddling on as saberkitteh swings back and forth on platy's neck hanging by her fangs and thinking, "thibs ib a hegck ob a fix - my lower jaw can moobe bud nod my ubpper - how do i ged thebe fangs unstugck?"

 

[Tigger]

Two days later Platy is still waddling on as saberkitteh swings back and forth on platy's neck hanging by her fangs and thinking, "thibs ib a hegck ob a fix - my lower jaw can moobe bud nod my ubpper - how do i ged thebe fangs unstugck?"

If saberkitteh is big like this one, Platy wouldn't waddle on. Also, big paws could help get fangs unstuck.

 

[calmloki]

Lookah likea Liger

 

[Westernskies]

Here's a tiger skull for comparison.

I've got a Leopard skull and a Mountain Lion skull here in my office, they look exactly the same as the tiger (but smaller, of course)

The eye sockets do look a bit offset to the side on the bare skull, but when you consider the eyes are sitting above the massive jaw/cheek muscles and the hide, the geometry is right.

 

[TromboneAl]

Why Did Sabertooth Tigers Need Such Big Teeth?

And...

Why the enormous teeth? Certainly they were used in hunting, but opinions vary as to exactly how they were used. Some paleontologists have suggested that they were used to grab and hold onto prey. However, attacking a large herbivore this way could easily break the saber teeth and saber teeth that were demonstrably broken during an animal's lifetime are rare in fossil deposits. A more plausible hypothesis suggests that saber teeth were used to deliver a fatal ripping wound to the belly or throat of a prey animal. Sabertooth carnivores may not have tried to grapple with prey. More likely, delivered one crippling stab wound and then waited for the prey to die.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

I've got a Leopard skull and a Mountain Lion skull here in my office.

Collector?