The “marsupial sabertooth” Thylacosmilus atrox had cow-like eyes and superlong sabers that went up into its skull, but it was nevertheless an exceptional hunter. (Image credit: Jorge Blanco)

Regardless of getting eyes as wide-set as a cow’s and surprisingly extended upper-canine teeth with roots tunneling deep into its skull, the “marsupial sabertooth” proved to be an powerful carnivore, a new study finds.

This ferocious marsupial is an extinct mammal from South America scientifically recognized as Thylacosmilus atrox. Scientists from Argentina and the United States examined computed tomography (CT) scans of the skulls of 3 of the substantial predators, which would have weighed roughly 220 pounds (one hundred kilograms) and went extinct about three million years ago. The group noticed that the animal’s odd cranial anatomy stood out compared with other carnivores, such as dogs and cats, whose eyes are a lot more forward-facing to assist them track prey, according to the study published Tuesday (March 21) in the journal Communications Biology (opens in new tab).

“What we count on for any carnivore is that [their eye sockets] commonly have extremely convergent orbits, which means their vision is oriented toward the front,” providing them fantastic depth perception, stated study lead author Charlène Gaillard (opens in new tab), a postgraduate student at the Argentine Institute of Nivology, Glaciology, and Environmental Sciences (IANIGLA) in Mendoza, Argentina. “When you are a predator, you want to be in a position to find your prey as accurately as feasible,” Gaillard told Reside Science.

This accuracy happens when the left and appropriate fields of vision overlap and send information and facts to the brain, enabling “the brain to interpret depth and distances,” resulting in 3D vision, Gaillard stated.

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But the marsupial sabertooth’s eye placement is a lot more in line with herbivores such as cows and horses, which see the planet in 2D, major scientists to wonder if this hypercarnivore, whose eating plan consisted of at least 70% meat, could see in 3D at all.

Soon after examining the scans, the researchers found that the beast was in a position to compensate for its odd eye placement by sticking its orbits outward and orienting them vertically, which helped it accomplish a 70-degree visual field overlap — equivalent to that of a cat, according to the study.

An artist’s digital reconstruction of Thylacosmilus atrox‘s skull. (Image credit: Jorge Blanco )

“This was adequate to assist make it a productive predator,” Gaillard stated.

So, what triggered T. atrox to evolve to have such wonky eye positioning in the very first spot? The researchers stated that is all thanks to its staggeringly extended canine teeth, which had been “ever-expanding” all through its lifetime, with the roots pushing additional back into its skull more than time. This “displacement” resulted in the animal’s special wide-set eyes, considering the fact that its canine teeth had been “invasive to the dorsal [front] portion of the skull,” Gaillard stated.

Even so, the researchers are unclear of irrespective of whether or not its huge chompers presented any rewards even though hunting, considering the fact that there are at present no other mammals that evolved to have a equivalent characteristic, such as kangaroos and other marsupials that are distant cousins of T. atrox.

“It was probably advantageous to have these big canine teeth,” Gaillard stated, “and it was even a lot more advantageous to have them with regards to getting far better vision.”