MUSCLE MAPS AS A GUIDE TO SABER-TOOTH CAT BEHAVIOR

Although phylogenetic bracketing provides clues to the appearance and behavior of extinct animals, relationships are often so distant that their usefulness is much degraded. The best evidence may still lie in morphological analysis of the bones themselves. We would like to emphasize the value of muscle reconstructions in understanding saber-tooth morphology. All such reconstructions begin with muscle maps carefully outlined on the bones and interpreted in part on the relative prominence and strength of each individual scar. The position and strength of individual muscles can then be related to movement analysis across joints, and a functional interpretation attempted. Although most such analysis may simply confirm that a functional unit is suitable for an expected behavior, it may also call attention to novel solutions. We have recently completed comprehensive comparisons of a variety of saber-toothed carnivores to bears and found similarities in musculature as well as in skeletal anatomy. We think that these similarities in morphology reveal shared behavior and locomotor patterns that phylogenetic analysis would not have anticipated.