How a Saber-Tooth Marsupial Blinded Us With Its Bite - The New York Times

A predatory marsupial known as Thylacosmilus also had long blades projecting from its mouth.

And the canines of Thylacosmilus and Smilodon rested in different places.

Instead of having its teeth fully exposed outside of its mouth like Smilodon, Thylacosmilus had flanges formed from its lower jaw.

Janis as strange, because great cats today like lions and jaguars depend on these teeth to get meat off bones.

She also knew from previous work conducted by other labs that the canines of Thylacosmilus were structurally different from the teeth of Smilodon because of their triangular shape.

Rather than showing evidence of biting and chewing bones, as is commonly found in large cats today and seen on the teeth of Smilodon, the teeth of Thylacosmilus show wear marks consistent with a diet of very soft meat, but not bones, similar to what cheetahs eat today.

She further suggests that, like walruses and anteaters that lack incisors and have very long tongues, Thylacosmilus slid its tongue into bodies to extract these innards.

“I am willing to entertain the notion that Thylacosmilus was a scavenger, but calling it a specialist organ feeder may be going a bit far,” said Blaire Van Valkenburgh, a paleontologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.”