Bending performance changes during prolonged canine eruption in saber-toothed carnivores: A case study of Smilodon fatalis

The canine of saber-toothed predators represents one of the most specialized dental structures known. Hypotheses about the function of hypertrophied canines range from display and conspecific interaction, soft food processing, to active prey acquisition. Recent research on the ontogenetic timing of skull traits indicates the adult canine can take years to fully erupt, but the consequences of prolonged eruption on inferences of canine functional morphology are missing from current discourse and have not been quantified. Here I evaluate hypotheses about adult canine bending strength and stiffness, respectively, during eruption in the felid Smilodon fatalis. Simulated eruption sequences of three adult canines were generated from specimen models to assess shifting cross-sectional geometry properties, and bending strength and stiffness under laterally directed loads were estimated using finite element analysis. Consistent with beam theory expectations, S. fatalis canine cross-sectional geometry is optimized for increased bending strength with increased erupted height. However, canine cross-sectional geometry changes through eruption exaggerate rather than minimize lateral deflection. Spatial constraint for maximum root length from adjacent sensory structures in the maxilla and the recently identified universal power law are hypothesized to limit the growth capacity of canine anteroposterior length and, consequently, maintenance of bending stiffness through eruption. Instead, the joint presence of the deciduous and adult canines for >50% of the adult canine eruption period effectively increases canine mediolateral width and brings bending strength and stiffness estimates closer to theoretical optima. Similarly prolonged retention of deciduous canines in other sabertooths suggests dual-canine buttressing is a convergently evolved strategy to maximize bending strength and stiffness.