doi:10.1002/spp2.1463engRabe, CaitlinChinsamy, AnusuyaValenciano, AlbertoTaxonomic and palaeobiological implications of a large, pathological sabretooth (Carnivora, Felidae, Machairodontinae) from the Lower Pliocene of South AfricaART-2022-131310Abstract:We describe the most complete postcranialremains of a pathological, large-bodied sabretooth from theLower Pliocene site of Langebaanweg ‘E’ Quarry (SouthAfrica). The skeleton consists of hind limb and vertebral ele-ments that exhibit distinctive exostoses, osteophytes andeburnation. We performed a quantitative morphologicalcomparison of the new postcranial remains found in Lange-baanweg, with other Neogene and Quaternary sabretoothand non-sabretooth felids, consisting of the generaAmphi-machairodus,Machairodus,Lokotunjailurus,Dinofelis,Pan-thera,HomotheriumandSmilodonfrom several sites inAfrica, Europe and North America, using principal compo-nent analysis and Mosimann transformations. Although thepathological deformation of the remains distorted some ofthe linear measurements, most of the analysed variables donot contain pathological features, and strongly indicate thatthe Langebaanweg sabretooth is morphologically closer toMachairodus aphanistusandLokotunjailurus emageritusthanit is toAmphimachairodus giganteus. This indicates that theremains could belong to an undetermined sabretooth speciesfrom the Langebaanweg locality. The observed pathologies inthe foot and lumbar spine are consistent with diagnostic cri-teria for severe osteoarthritis (due to maturity), which wouldhave limited limb mobility with severe consequences forhunting success.2022http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/12098910.1002/spp2.1463http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/120989oai:zaguan.unizar.es:120989info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/E33-20Rinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/FJC-2018-036669-Iinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PID2020-116220GB-I00info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO-FEDER/PGC2018-094122-B-100Papers in Palaeontology 8, 5 (2022), e1463 [26 pp.]by-nc-ndhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess