Table 1. Measurements of basal skull length (BSL) and maximum skull width at the zygoma (SWZ); and estimates of body mass(BoM), canine bite force (CBS), and bite force quotient (BFQ), for 39 taxa of recent and fossil mammals.(Measurements and calculations were taken from prepared skulls. Methods for body mass estimations given in ElectronicAppendix, section A. Fossil taxa indicated with †.)


Figure 2. Basal skull length (BSL) plotted against body mass (BoM). Power regressions are shown for felids (black dashed line),canids (grey solid line), dasyuromorphians (grey dashed line), thylacoleonids (black solid line). Symbols as in figure 1.
Table 2. Bite force adjusted for body mass allometry (BFQ), maximal prey size and feeding category in 31 extant mammaliancarnivores
(RMPS, maximal prey size (1, greater than maximal body mass of predator; 2, less than maximal body mass of predator); FC,feeding category (1, hypercarnivore; 2, other); ‘—’, insufficient data. Maximal body mass data largely from Meers (2002). Foradditional data see Electronic Appendix, section A.)