Why did the Saber Tooth Tiger Go Extinct – How did the Saber Tooth Tiger Became Extinct

Saber Tooth Tiger along with Woolly Mammoths, American lions, and other giant animals used to live in the American grasslands during the Pleistocene Epoch (23 million to 10,000 years ago). This group of animals is known as the “Megafauna”. At the end of the Pleistocene Epoch (last ice age), these “Megafauna” became extinct. This extinction is known as the Quaternary extinction in Palaeontology. Sabertooth tiger due to its unique appearance has been of very much interest among the people. Paleontologist has been studying them for years and has been working out various theories that suggest reasons for Why did the Saber Tooth Tiger go Extinct. We have gathered all the theories here to give you an overview of all the possible reasons for saber tooth tiger extinction.

Why did the Saber Tooth Tiger Go Extinct

It has been observed that big cats tend to consume the complete animal they hunt when food is scarce. This behavior has significant effects on the wear patterns on their teeth as they chomp the bones for a longer period. Based on this behavior of big cats, paleontologists studied the teeth and formulated the theory on why did the Saber Tooth tigers go extinct.

1. Theory of Tough Times 

• The most popular theory that suggests the reasons for the Saber Tooth Tiger extinction talks about the tough times (during the late Pleistocene period) due to climate change, human hunting, and scarcity of food.
• This theory was suggested after research made on the teeth of saber tooth tiger, American lions, coyotes, and dire wolves fossils found in La Brea tar pits in southern California. It was observed that broken teeth were three times more than other predators of the same time. This observation suggested that these animals were facing difficulty finding prey and were consuming their whole prey which resulted in three times broken teeth.
• These studies led scientists to formulate the theory of tough times suspecting climate change and human competition as the main reasons for their extinction.
• Huge climate changes occurred at the end of the last ice age and human hunting also increased, this caused the extinction of most of the large mammals.
• Let’s discuss each of the three major reasons why did the saber tooth tiger become extinct:

  • Climate Change
    

    At the time of saber tooth tiger extinction, the ice age was ending. Glaciers were melting, changes in seasons and rainfall occurred, causing a disturbance in the local ecosystems. The temperature rise may have affected the living of most of these megafaunas and something extraordinary might also have happened only during this ice age that might have caused the extinction. Another esoteric theory with no proof suggests that climate changes may have caused diseases that may have led to the saber tooth tiger extinction.

  • Food Supply

    Sabertooth tigers mainly hunted ground sloths, deer, and bison which were on the verge of extinction at the end of the last ice age due to climate change. The population of Bison fell significantly when due to climate change large grasslands turned into forests. In addition to this when humans reached North America at the end of the last ice age, they also hunted bison for food and thus caused food competition for saber tooth tigers. This decrease in the food supply has been suggested as one of the major causes of the extinction of saber tooth tigers.

  • Human Hunting Saber Tooth Tiger

    The theory also suggests that at the time of the extinction of saber tooth tigers, humans made huge progress in hunting techniques. These techniques were advanced enough to kill a large predator like a saber tooth tiger. Humans might not have killed saber tooth tigers for food but protection and sport.
    Some paleontologists do not accept this theory and argue that though hunting skills were advanced yet, humans did not have the resources and will to cause the extinction of the saber tooth tiger.

2. Most Recent Findings on Saber Tooth Tiger Extinction

Recently conducted studies on the fossils of saber tooth tigers suggest that saber tooth tiger extinction didn’t happen due to lack of food. These studies are supported by fossil evidence and contradict the previous theory for how did the Saber Tooth Tiger became extinct.

• In the recent study of the microscopic wear patterns on the teeth of 15 American lions and 15 saber-tooth tigers (found in La Brea tar pits in southern California), it was found that there was enough food available for saber-tooth tigers even during the period near to their extinction 12,000 years ago. These recent findings do refute the previous theory but are still unable to provide answers for how did the Saber Tooth Tiger become extinct.
• These studies employed a new method called dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA). A confocal microscope is used to produce a 3D image of the tooth surface, which is then analyzed for wear patterns. Eating red meat produces small parallel scratches on the teeth while chomping of bones produces deeper pits.
• The study further revealed that the saber tooth tiger teeth wear pattern matches that of the present-day African lions, which do some bone-crushing when eating their prey. On the other hand the wear patterns on the teeth of the American lion match with those of the present-day cheetah, which avoids bone-crushing while eating its prey.
• The previous study of teeth suggested that saber tooth tigers avoided bone-crushing.
• The researchers of this study suggest that the high rate of damage observed in teeth during the previous studies is more likely due to the capture of prey.
• These wear patterns on the teeth were also cross-examined with teeth of saber tooth tigers from different periods between 35,000 to 11,500 years ago. The results suggested no evidence that there was an increase in the “utilization” of carcasses.
• They were not eating the complete carcasses of their prey as suggested by previous theory.
• It seemed that the availability of food was not the issue even near to the period when they got extinct. This recent study raises serious questions on the previous theory on the extinction of saber tooth tigers and provides evidence that it is highly unlikely that the extinction was caused due to lack of food as their teeth suggest a completely different story.