Saber-toothed cats became inbred–and struggled to move–before they went extinct

3 comments

• chrisco25510 minutes ago
  I think the study makes a giant presumptive leap to assume inbreeding was the cause of the higher-than-modern-human incidences of spinal tumors. It's irresponsible to assert this to be true instead of one of several possible explanations.
  • Retr0id8 minutes ago
    Seems like there's also a sampling bias, where the less able-bodied animals are more likely to get trapped in tar for scientists to study.
• Animats1 hour ago
  Another predator that went through a genetic choke point. Cheetahs did, too.[1] Cheetahs survived, but they are so similar genetically that they get the same illnesses, and skin grafts between unrelated cheetahs are not rejected.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;academic.oup.com&#x2F;jhered&#x2F;article&#x2F;108&#x2F;6&#x2F;671&#x2F;3836924" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;academic.oup.com&#x2F;jhered&#x2F;article&#x2F;108&#x2F;6&#x2F;671&#x2F;3836924</a>