Saber-toothed cat spinal tumors uncovered at La Brea Tar Pits

Researchers examined over 3,000 vertebrae of the extinct Smilodon fatalis from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. The analysis, led by veterinary spine surgeon Hugo Schmökel of IVC Evidensia Academy in Stockholm, revealed hundreds of spinal deformities, including a strikingly high incidence of rare spinal nerve tumors. These tumors, common in modern humans and dogs at less than 0.38 cases per 100,000, appeared about 1,000 times more frequently in the saber-toothed cats studied.

The findings, published on July 27 in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, suggest that inbreeding as the species’ populations dwindled may have contributed to the rise in spinal disease, potentially adding to the pressures that led to the animal’s extinction.