What killed saber-toothed cats? New study points to diseased bones

Ice Age saber-toothed cats and dire wolves had a high prevalence of bone disease in their joints, found a study published in PLOS ONE on July 12. 

The findings help to illuminate their health and how this potentially impacted hunting. The high occurrence of OCD also suggests a possible link to declining populations as these species approached extinction.

Poor health and saber-toothed cats’ extinction

Dr. Hugo Schmökel, the chief veterinary officer at Evidensia Academy, Sweden, and colleagues examined fossil limb bones from the Late Pleistocene — approximately 55,000 to 12,000 years…