https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Index ${session.getAttribute("locale")} 5 https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:19413 Thu 06 Aug 2015 15:27:20 AEST ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:5209 Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:47:45 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:3322 5 m thick flowstones whose top-beds have an age exceeding the limits of U/Th alpha spectrometric dating (>350 ka). Cave morphology and chronological constraints obtained from speleothems suggest that an important uplift event occurred during the Middle Pleistocene following a period of tectonic standstill of probable latest Early Pleistocene age. Active spring caves close to present-day valley floors contain speleothems whose ages exceed 100 ka, implying that no significant downcutting of the seaward valleys, and consequently no tectonic uplift, has occurred during Late Pleistocene.]]> Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:23:17 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:3448 150 years of study, many questions remain concerning its predatory behavior. Were the “sabers” used to take down large prey? Were prey killed with an eviscerating bite to the abdomen? Was its bite powerful or weak compared with that of modern big cats? Here we quantitatively assess the sabercat's biomechanical performance using the most detailed computer reconstructions yet developed for the vertebrate skull. Our results demonstrate that bite force driven by jaw muscles was relatively weak in S. fatalis, one-third that of a lion (Panthera leo) of comparable size, and its skull was poorly optimized to resist the extrinsic loadings generated by struggling prey. Its skull is better optimized for bites on restrained prey where the bite is augmented by force from the cervical musculature. We conclude that prey were brought to ground and restrained before a killing bite, driven in large part by powerful cervical musculature. Because large prey is easier to restrain if its head is secured, the killing bite was most likely directed to the neck. We suggest that the more powerful jaw muscles of P. leo may be required for extended, asphyxiating bites and that the relatively low bite forces in S. fatalis might reflect its ability to kill large prey more quickly, avoiding the need for prolonged bites.]]> Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:20:26 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:3573 Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:19:51 AEDT ]]> https://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:3363 Sat 24 Mar 2018 07:18:55 AEDT ]]>