Editing Machairodus (section)

=== Pathology ===
''M. aphanistus'' fossils recovered from Batallones reveal a high percentage of tooth breakages, indicating that unlike later machairodonts, due to a lack of protruding incisors ''Machairodus'' often used its sabers to subdue prey in a manner similar to modern cats; this was a more risky strategy that virtually ensured that damage to their saber teeth often occurred.{{sfnp|Antón|2013|pp=183–184}} ''M. aphanistus'' fossils from Batallones displaying palaeopathologies also include a [[calcaneus]] displaying evidence of either a [[Neoplasm|tumour]] or [[osteomyelitis]], a third metacarpal displaying signs of [[osteosclerosis]], and a mandible with an abscess in the mandibular body.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite journal |last1=Salesa |first1=Manuel J. |last2=Hernández |first2=Bárbara |last3=Marín |first3=Pilar |last4=Siliceo |first4=Gema |last5=Martínez |first5=Irene |last6=Antón |first6=Mauricio |last7=García-Real |first7=María Isabel |last8=Pastor |first8=Juan Francisco |last9=García-Fernández |first9=Rosa Ana |date=31 May 2024 |title=New insights on the ecology and behavior of Machairodus aphanistus (Carnivora, Felidae, Machairodontinae) through the paleopathological study of the fossil sample from the Late Miocene (Vallesian, MN 10) of Cerro de los Batallones (Torrejón de Velasco, Madrid, Spain) |journal=[[Journal of Mammalian Evolution]] |language=en |volume=31 |issue=2 |doi=10.1007/s10914-024-09721-8 |issn=1064-7554 |doi-access=free }}</ref>