Rare Spinal Tumors Found in Saber-Toothed Cats Trapped at La Brea May Hint at Inbreeding Before Extinction

Inside the Painful End of the Saber-Toothed Cat

Saber-toothed cats may have been limping toward extinction long before they vanished. A new study of more than 3,700 vertebrae from Smilodon fatalis found at Los Angeles' La Brea Tar Pits documents high rates of congenital spinal deformities and a few rare nerve tumors—conditions researchers link to sustained...

Saber-toothed cats became inbred—and struggled to move—before they went extinct

Population declines led to spike in spinal deformities and rare tumors, fossil study suggests

Saber-toothed cats' spinal tumors suggest inbred species struggled to survive

The fossilized spines of saber-toothed cats in the La Brea Tar Pits reveal evidence of an unexpectedly high prevalence of rare spinal nerve tumors, suggesting that the species became inbred just before extinction. These tumors, which cause significant pain and reduced limb function, could have made the cats particularly vulnerable to the lure of prey animals stuck in the tar pits.

Rare Spinal Tumors Found in Saber-Toothed Cats Trapped at La Brea May Hint at Inbreeding Before Extinction

Learn how fossilized vertebrae from California’s La Brea Tar Pits may link nerve tumors, difficult hunts, and inbreeding as saber-toothed cats neared extinction.

Spines of saber-toothed cats tell a tale of the doomed species

Remains pulled from the La Brea Tar Pits revealed deformed vertebrae and rare tumors, possible signs of inbreeding among now-extinct saber-toothed cats.