Adaptation
The adaptations that Barbourofelis fricki underwent can be
found by looking at its classification. Barbourofelis fricki had
true nuclei and membrane bound organelles. At some point in
their life they had posterior cilia. They evolved to be
multicellular organisms with true tissues. Their tissues were
triploblastic meaning they had and endoderm, mesoderm, and an
ectoderm. Visit the reproduction page to learn more about how
the cells divided after fertilization. Barbourofelis fricki were
deuterostomes meaning that their anus developed first during
gastrulation. This organism developed bilateral symmetry and
under went cephalization to end up with a head to house the
brain and spinal cord for heightened senses. One of the defining
features of chordata is that they have a notochord which for
Barbourofelis fricki eventually turned into the spinal column.
The notochord is the site of muscle attachment and support.
Eyes, the ability to sense light, adapted before nervous
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Barbourofelis fricki developed features of mammals (EOL,2012). They
were endothermic which better allowed them to maintain homeostasis
but required a higher caloric intake of the mostly meat that they
ate. Mammals are amniotes, they have amniotic fluid in the cavity
that houses the developing organism. Most mammals give birth to
their young (EOL,2012). Mammals also have mammary glands which
allow mature organisms to produce milk which they can feed to their
young. Vertebrates are a group defined by modifications of the
integumentary system which for Barbourofelis fricki included nails,
hair, and glands.
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Vertebrates have endoskeletons that undergo continuous growth with
the organism. Barbourofelis fricki adapted to being meat eaters. The
most distinctive adaptation was their teeth and of the family
Barbourofeldae, Barbourofelis fricki had the most specialized upper
teeth or deciduous upper canine tooth (Schultz et al. 1970). Two
recognizable studies have been performed by J. R. MacDonald and
Laurie MacDonald in the Journal of Paleontology on “Barbourofelis
fricki from the Early Hemphillian of Nevada” which helped classify
Barbourofelis fricki and a study by Sharon B. Emerson and Leonard
Radinsky in Paleontology on the “Functional Analysis of Sabertooth
Cranial Morphology” which compares the skulls of sabretooth to
non-sabertooth to figure out how they used their teeth. They say in
the second study, “Functional Analysis of Sabertooth Cranial
Morphology”, that:
1) sabertooth morphology represents modification for wider
gape with retention of a powerful bite force at the carnassial
2) sabertooths probably used a throat or ventral neck slash
to kill prey
3) elongate canines and retractile claws may have facilitated
the exploitation of relatively large prey by sabertooths compared to
non-sabertooth carnivores
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To learn more about how and what Barbourofelis fricki ate check out the nutrition page
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