In the remote past, the saber-toothed tigers roamed the Earth, displaying an imposition that was marked in history. However, one question still raises doubts: what was the sound emitted by this magnificent feline?
Addressing this mystery, researchers at North Carolina State University analyzed data on the vocalization of these animals, seeking to determine whether the sounds they produced were powerful roars or purrs smooth.
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The answer, however, was not as simple to find as scientists had imagined. A study published in the Journal of Morphology investigated the vocalizations of several cat species with the aim of reaching a definitive conclusion.
The researchers point out that all modern felines can be categorized into two groups main ones: the first is composed of the roaring “big cats”, such as lions, tigers, panthers and ounces.
The second group is the Feline, which includes purring felines such as bobcats, cougars, ocelots, and domestic cats. In evolutionary terms, saber-toothed tigers diverged from the feline lineage earlier than other modern groups.
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This distinction implies that lions are closer to domestic cats than saber-toothed tigers in terms of relatedness. This complicates any scientific assumptions.
“This is crucial because the debate about the type of vocalization that saber-toothed tigers could emit depends on the analysis of the anatomy of the small bones in the throat,” explained Adam Hartstone-Rose, a professor at North Carolina State University.
Hartstone-Rose emphasizes that although vocalization is controlled by the larynx and the soft tissues of the throat rather than the bones, anatomists of the past made an interesting observation.
The hyoid bones, which anchor these tissues, have been found to vary in size and number across species, appearing nine times in purring cats and seven times in roaring cats.
After in-depth analysis, the researchers found that saber-toothed tigers only had seven hyoid bones in their throats. This led to the initial assumption that these animals were undoubtedly roarers.
However, Hartstone-Rose noted that the more researchers examined the anatomy of modern felines, the less concrete evidence was found that these bones played a role vocal.
As bones do not play a direct role in vocalization, this theory seemed inadequate, as the correlation between the number of bones and the sound produced has never been truly established.
Thus, scholars began to examine the hyoid structure of four species of roaring cats: lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars. In addition, they also analyzed five species of purring felines: pumas, cheetahs, caracals, servals and ocelots.
According to the scientists, if the hyoid bones, which are absent in roaring cats, were really crucial for vocalization, the other bones should show clear differences between the two groups.
However, the shape of these bones is remarkably similar, regardless of whether they belong to roaring or purring cats, with slight variations only in the bones closest to the vocal apparatus.
Ultimately, the saber-toothed tiger shares characteristics with both groups, which suggests that he could have adopted either the roar or the purr, or even a third type of vocalization.
