Reports of animal behavior research and personal observations by the brilliant students in Biology 550.
Study Shows That Sabertooth Tigers Played Well With Others
A research team from UCLA and the Zoological Society of London believes that Sabertooth tigers were social predators. The study compared the responses of modern predators to those of the ancient feline as preserved by the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in
posted by PWH @ 10:16 PM
15 comments
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15 Comments:
The similarity in frequencies between sabertooth tigers and other large predators is weak evidence that they were social. Did the article present any more evidence?
Jimmy Sullivan
Thats tough to draw a connection from modern predators to prehistoric predators, but I guess thats the best they can do given that sabetooths are extinct. However, if so many sabertooths were found in these tar pits that would tell me these animals are either not territorial or are social animals. Because so many fossils are found in the same place there needs to be some sort of connection to their social behaviors. On a more modern basis, I never knew that modern day predator felines were not social. Lions seem to always be in packs?
Patrick Salome
I think different species of big cats have different patterns of social behavior. I wonder if they have anything else to back this find up because it seems too vague to draw conclusions from.
-Julie Riley
This study and its results don't make a lot of sense to me. It is understandable that a carnivorous sabertooth tiger would of course come to the sounds of a potential prey. The prey is making sounds and giving away its position, more than a few animals around it would respond to this call.
Ahmed Sandakli
I definetely think there needs to be more research done for researchers to conclude this hypothesis... There doesn't seem to be any concrete and reliable data to back it up. Different species of big cats must have different patterns of social behavior...but unless specific reseach on each species is done, it is hard to make such large conclusions.
Brena Sena
What large predators did they look at? How closely related to the sabertooth tigers were these large predators? Have they found a large amount of there fossils together in other places?
What is the connection which makes Sabretooth Tigers group predators? You mention that 60% were group predators but I don't see what the connection to Sabretooth Tigers is.
Alex Jackson
It would have been interesting to also test to see if different herbivore distressed recordings attracted different predators. Interesting article.
-Sasha Rogers
I am a bit confused about when you refer to "large predators". Is this one type of species or a more general term for any large predator that were social predators? How closely related are these predators to the sabertooth tiger? I think resolving these questions would definitely make the article an interesting find.
-Helen Thi
Evidence from some sabertooth tiger fossils show healed injuries or diseases that ought to have been the cause of death for the animal. Previously, this was the only clue about the extinct animal's social behavior, that they travelled in groups and provided food for injured or aging members of the pack. The UCLA research team builds upon what little is known. Perhaps that is why the scientists are able to draw conclusions from connections that seem very weak and unfounded. If there is basically nothing known, a hint in a certain direction is enough to publish an article about the research.
-Jordan Grinstein
despite the fact of the evidence being thin it is still an interesting idea. it seem so go agents what we normal think of when we thing of saber tooth tigers.
-Matthew Sousa
So Ice Age had it right that Diego was in a pard or whatever with the other Sabertooths? That's cool, I liked him! Also it makes sense giving the time zone of when Sabertooths were around, more muscle meant you could take down larger and more plentiful meat. Does this study show that Sabertooths were more closely related to lions, who have prides, or can that conclusion not be drawn and it was just circumstance?
Ada Marie Flores
Interesting. If that is true, I wonder why now most large cats are solitary animals. What changes in the environment or what survival advantage would that give them.
Alex Pavidapha
How interesting! I always thought of Sabertooth Tigers as being rather ferocious. I never knew they were such social creatures.
Amy Kawazoe
The conclusions drawn by the research team may be little more than a statistical correlation. However, their findings agree with the known aspects of Sabertooth tigers.
Response by Allison Cornell (7)
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