Meanwhile, in the La Brea Tar Pits…

Spinal Deformities in Saber-Toothed Cat Fossils Reveal How the Now-Extinct Felines May Have Spent Their Final Days smithsonianmag.com

Saber-toothed cat vertebrae pulled from the La Brea Tar Pits carry an unusual load of deformities, including signs of spinal nerve tumors. The pattern points to inbreeding in a shrinking population — a portrait of the last generations of a predator on its way out, written in bone.