08-20-2018, 02:20 AM | #51 |
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Re: Serrated Sword
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08-20-2018, 06:45 AM | #52 |
Join Date: Jul 2007
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Re: Serrated Sword
An ability they evolved as a defense against electric eels.
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08-20-2018, 08:27 AM | #53 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: The plutonium rich regions of Washington State
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Re: Serrated Sword
What is your security clearance, citizen? Also, please supply a list of your place of residence, place of work, and next of kin.
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I'll also note that the great machairodont sabercats (the "saber-tooth tigers") had serrated teeth, as did a number of other land-croc like things (Pristichampsus, various mekosuchids such as Quinkana, various rauisuchians such as Postosuchus, Saurosuchus, and plenty of others). So there might not be land-dwelling sharks, but in the past there definitely were land-dwelling, running crocodile-things that could chase down their prey over open ground and tear it to shreds. Luke |
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08-20-2018, 10:46 AM | #54 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Serrated Sword
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They did this with a sabretoothed tiger and mounted their reconstucted jaws on a small piece of earthmoving equipment (it might or might not have been a "bobcat"). Then they attacked a side of beef. The results were that the sabre fangs made long but relatively shallow gouges. Perhaps 2 feet long by 1 or 2 inches deep. Not what I expected though it certainly would have bled heavily. This might give them a somewhat similar M.O. to komodos who bite and then wait for their prey to bleed out but I wouldn't really say that the teeth were doing the same thing. More like coming to a similar end result by a different means.
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Fred Brackin |
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08-20-2018, 08:40 PM | #55 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: The plutonium rich regions of Washington State
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Re: Serrated Sword
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It is also worth noting that the sabercats had a remarkably weak bite, a very wide gape, and very strong neck muscles. One thought is that they stabbed with their neck, rather than biting per se. Luke |
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08-21-2018, 04:34 AM | #56 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
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Re: Serrated Sword
They have a wide gape, but because of the large canine teeth they can only fully use it to "nip" with the incisors (usually reserved for in-species fighting). The actual gape around the canines is smaller than that of a contemporary lion or tiger. I've even seen it proposed that they attacked with their mouth closed to protect the teeth but since they're not a sex-linked trait, that seems like evolution gone wild.
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08-21-2018, 09:37 AM | #57 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: Serrated Sword
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Modern cats also do use a form of the Gurps Choke Hold on their prey's airway as a finishing move. I do not believe that smilodons woudl be well adapted to doing this though. The sabre fangs would appear to me to get in the way. Watching that articulated cast of a smilodon's skull in action it was clear that what would hit first in any attack at full gape was the tip of the sabre fangs but I did not see any way for them to drive deep.
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Fred Brackin |
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08-21-2018, 09:22 PM | #58 | ||||
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: The plutonium rich regions of Washington State
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Re: Serrated Sword
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http://journals.plos.org/plosone/art...l.pone.0066888 . Note the figures, such as this one http://journals.plos.org/plosone/art...e.0066888.g001 (with Smilodon on the left). These diagrams make it plausible that Smilodon and even more so Thylacosmilus could stab with their fangs, sinking them gum-deep into their victim, plausibly driven down and in through the use of neck muscles rather than jaw muscles. Regarding the incisors, the sabercats apparently had incisors the protruded forward more than the felinae (the branch of the cat family that includes all modern cats - the sabercats were all the the other main branch, the machairodonts). It is supposed that this allowed then to efficiently deflesh carcases despite those cumbersome canines. Here's a recent article on sabercats that I found interesting https://aeon.co/essays/the-magnifice...-life-on-earth Luke |
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08-21-2018, 10:22 PM | #59 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Serrated Sword
The ostrich seems to not have much use for its claws beyond raking, but isn't a predator. How do burrowing predators like badgers use their claws?
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08-21-2018, 11:11 PM | #60 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: The plutonium rich regions of Washington State
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Re: Serrated Sword
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Badgers, as far as I can tell, will use their claws to hold down smallish-prey or rake at things, but their main weapon is their bite and their claws are mainly a digging implement. Luke |
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