CIVETS, MACHAIRODONTS, AND CATS 



173 



legist, however, in recent researches into the fossil Machairodonts 

 of North America, has offered a solution of the problem which 

 seems sufficient. He points out that the condyles of the lower 

 jaw worked in such a manner on the squamosal groove at the 

 base of the skull that the lower jaw could be pulled back by the 

 muscles attached to the chin and neck until it was drawn right up 

 against the throat. In this manner the Machairodonts obtained 

 an enormous gape, and the powerful lower jaw, with its deep 



GAPE OF JAWS IN A BRITISH SABRE-TOOTHED " TIGER " (Machairodus cnltridtns). 



flanges, and its short, strong, hook-like canines and incisors, 

 would act as a powerful fulcrum for the vertical sabres implanted 

 in the upper jaw. Armed with such cutting power as this, the 

 sabre-toothed " tigers " probably severed the vertebral column of 

 many a huge Ungulate, and tore off enormous hunks of flesh 

 from the quivering body, which they swallowed with little 

 mastication. They may also, of course, have severed the great 

 blood-vessels and sucked the pumping fountains of venous blood 

 down their gullets. 



Possibly, however, over-specialisation told its tale with the 



