This is consistent with the generally

accepted idea that sabrecat evolution was mosaic, not pleiotropic, with enlarged blade-like canines not appearing in concert with other specialized craniomandibular morphologies (Salesa et al., 2005; Slater & Van Valkenburgh, 2008; Christiansen, 2011, but see Meloro & Slater, 2012, who suggest covariation between canine dimensions and skull shape). However, the PCA made by us provides signs buy Z-VAD-FMK of morphological modifications for a sabretoothed condition in the skull of M. dimidiata. According to the loadings for the variables in the PCA (see Table 2), there are four key anatomical features that distinguish M. dimidiata cranial morphology from that of living carnivorous marsupials (see Fig. 4): (1)  Upper canine height and anteroposterior length are very large, but the mediolateral width of the canines (C1W) is within the marsupial range. This implies that the canines have a large anteroposterior length and normal mediolateral width, a sabre-like condition observed in fossil sabretooth predators (Biknevicius & Van Valkenburgh, 1996). The values for MAT/JL, MFL/JL and JL/SL are not outside Ulixertinib the ranges

of these indices for other marsupials, but the PCA indicates that M. dimidiata is unusual in that it has a combination of large canines with smaller JL, MAT and MFL, whereas other marsupials with large canines have larger values for JL, MAT and MFL. Therefore, M. dimidiata has a combination of features that is shared 上海皓元医药股份有限公司 with sabretooth predators. It is interesting to note that OCPH/SL and OCHW/SL were among the last indices to be excluded and were large in M. dimidiata. Therefore, this species has a relatively large occiput, suggesting that

it may have strong neck muscles to position and stabilize the head while biting. We conclude that M. dimidiata males have hypertrophied canines, some adaptations for a wider gape and probably a lower bite force in comparison with those of other living marsupials. This morphological pattern is similar to that observed in primitive sabretoothed fossil species (Emerson & Radinsky, 1980; Christiansen, 2006; Slater & Van Valkenburgh, 2008). Therefore, M. dimidiata seems to be a living analogue of the primitive sabretooth condition, such as that found in the nimravid Dinictis and the creodont Machaeroides but not of the more specialized sabretooth predators. Several studies show that sabretoothed predators had substantially lower bite forces than those of similar-sized predators (Wroe et al., 2005; Christiansen, 2007, Christiansen & Wroe, 2007).