{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T01:12:38Z","timestamp":1759972358098,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,31]],"date-time":"2024-12-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1735603200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["The Anatomical Record"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,11]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Megantereon<\/jats:italic> was a widespread saber\u2010toothed felid from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of the Old World and North America, but its rarity in the fossil record makes it complicated to restore its life appearance. Lack of complete specimens makes it necessary to combine information from fossils of different individuals to reconstruct their facial anatomy. In this work, we combine the analysis of skulls and mandibles of <jats:italic>Megantereon<\/jats:italic> from various fossil sites with the study of extant carnivorans through dissection, 3D scans, and the observation of live individuals. <jats:italic>Megantereon<\/jats:italic> combined very elongated upper canines with mandibular flanges that were not deep enough to match the length of the sabers, as well as a wide maxilla combined with narrow incisor rows and mandibular symphysis. Such features are compatible with the presence of exposed canines in life, because the narrow symphysis allows room to accommodate lips and other soft tissues medial to the sabers, while the protrusion of the tips of the upper canines beyond the mental flanges makes it unlikely that they would be enveloped in soft tissue sheaths, which would dangle with the inherent risk of puncture. <jats:italic>Megantereon<\/jats:italic> was transitional between saber\u2010toothed felids with covered upper canines, where saber length fits with mental flange depth, and the derived <jats:italic>Smilodon<\/jats:italic> where the upper canines are much longer than the flanges and the lips fit between upper canines and mandible, leaving the upper canine crowns largely exposed in life.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/ar.25622","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,31]],"date-time":"2024-12-31T06:30:48Z","timestamp":1735626648000},"page":"2924-2943","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Exposed weapons: A revised reconstruction of the facial anatomy and life appearance of the saber\u2010toothed cat <i>Megantereon<\/i> (Felidae, Machairodontinae)"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"308","author":[{"given":"Mauricio","family":"Ant\u00f3n","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Paleobiolog\u00eda Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales\u2010CSIC  Madrid Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9456-3549","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gema","family":"Siliceo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fundaci\u00f3n ARAID \u2013 Agencia Aragonesa para la Investigaci\u00f3n y el Desarrollo  Zaragoza Spain"},{"name":"Fundaci\u00f3n Conjunto Paleontol\u00f3gico de Teruel\u2010DINOPOLIS  Teruel Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8371-5025","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Juan Francisco","family":"Pastor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Anatom\u00eda, Facultad de Medicina Universidad de Valladolid  Valladolid Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4773-5349","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Qigao","family":"Jiangzuo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences  Beijing China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0404-7896","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Manuel J.","family":"Salesa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Paleobiolog\u00eda Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales\u2010CSIC  Madrid Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_9_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2979\/6787.0"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/02724634.1999.10011190"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1096-3642.1998.tb00582.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_5_1","unstructured":"Ant\u00f3n M. & S\u00e1nchez I. 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