SABER-TOOTH TIGERS are regarded by scien- 

 tists as deserving a rating which would place 

 them among the most ferocious carnivores of 

 all time, though they were not the most power- 

 ful. With dagger-like teeth as much as nine 

 inches in length they slashed opponents and 

 prey, presumably subsisting chiefly on the 

 blood of their victims, for their huge fangs must 

 have interfered with the mastication of flesh. 

 Grinding teeth of most of the cats showed little 

 or no wear; another fact pointing to their pref- 

 erence for blood of their victims. Some speci- 

 mens which had lost or damaged the long, 

 trenchant canine teeth, however, showed evi- 

 dence of the mastication of flesh by the wear 

 of grit and bone on lesser dentures. 



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