Commentary: What's so interesting about sabertooths?

Abstract

Sabertooth creatures are fascinating to the public and to scientists. This Special Issue on The Anatomy of Sabertooths starts with a discussion of what exactly a sabertooth is, continues with a couple of papers about other animals with extraordinarily long teeth, and then delves into analyses of fossil sabertoothed taxa—some of which are not traditionally thought of as sabertooths and some of which are, but may not fit into the functional paradigm that we most associate with the sabertooth suite of morphology. The issue concludes with several studies that closely examine the function of the sabers themselves and then a final paper on one of the enduring mysteries about sabertooth anatomy that has nothing to do with their teeth at all. We proudly present this issue that has been years in the making and represents the work of scholars from around the world, all career stages, and experts in methodologies from traditional to cutting-edge, unified in our desire to bring you new and interesting insights into these taxa that continue to spark the imagination of budding future paleontologists and emeritus colleagues alike.