Extinct otter-like ‘marine bear’ might have had a bite like a saber-toothed cat
New research suggests that the feeding strategy of Kolponomos, an enigmatic shell-crushing marine predator that lived about 20 million years ago, was strangely similar to a very different kind of carnivore: the saber-toothed cat Smilodon. Scientists at the American Museum of Natural History used high-resolution x-ray imaging and computerized biting simulations to show that even though the two extinct predators likely contrasted greatly in food preference and environment, they shared similar engineering in jaw structure, suitable for anchoring against prey with the lower jaw and forcefully throwing the skull forward to pry loose its food. The study is published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.