RT Journal Article
T1 Non-decoupled morphological evolution of the fore- and hind limb of sabretooth predators.
A1 Martín-Serra, Alberto
A1 Figueirido-Castillo, Francisco Borja
A1 Palmqvist-Barrena, Carlos Paul
K1 Carnívoros fósiles
K1 Félidos fósiles
AB Specialized organisms are useful for exploring the combined effects of selection of functional traits and developmental constraints on patterns of phenotypic integration. Sabretooth predators are one of the most interesting examples of specialization among mammals. Their hypertrophied, sabre-shaped upper canines and their powerfully built forelimbs have been interpreted as adaptations to a highly specialized predatory behaviour. Given that the elongated and laterally compressed canines of sabretooths were more vulnerable to fracture than the shorter canines of conical-tooth cats, it has been long hypothesized that the heavily muscled forelimbs of sabretooths were used for immobilizing prey before developing a quick and precise killing bite. However, the effect of this unique adaptation on the covariation between the fore- and the hindlimb has not been explored in a quantitative fashion. In this paper, we investigate if the specialization of sabretooth predators decoupled the morphological variation of their forelimb with respect to their hindlimb or, in contrast, both limbs vary in the same fashion as in conical-tooth cats, which do not show such extreme adaptations in their forelimb. We use 3D geometric morphometrics and different morphological indices to compare the fore- and hindlimb of conical- and sabretooth predators. Our results indicate that the limb bones of sabretooth predators covary following the same trend of conical-tooth cats. Therefore, we show that the predatory specialization of sabretooth predators did not result in a decoupling of the morphological evolution of their fore- and hindlimbs. The role of developmental constraints and natural selection on this coordinate variation between the fore- and the hindlimb is discussed in the light of this new evidence
PB Wiley
YR 2017
FD 2017-07-12
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10630/32926
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10630/32926
LA eng
NO Martín-Serra A, Figueirido B and Palmqvist P. 2017. Non-decoupled morphological evolution of the fore- and hind limb of sabretooth predators. Journal of Anatomy 231: 532-542
NO Política de acceso abierto tomada de: https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/6894
DS RIUMA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga
RD 15 abr 2026