Abstract
The feeding behavior of the amphicyonid Magericyon anceps from the Batallones-1 fossil site has been investigated so far based on comparative anatomy, which provided a functional hypothesis of this carnivoran as being a capable hunter rather than a scavenger. In this work, we study the feeding behavior of M. anceps under a biomechanical approach using the virtual paleontology toolbox. Our results suggest that M. anceps was well adapted to resist stress during lateral and pull-back movements, similar to some extant hypercarnivorous species, such as lions and hyenas, but its bite force was surprisingly low for its size. These results support the previous hypothesis that the forelimbs might have played an important role in subduing and immobilizing prey before delivering a killing bite. The high resistance to stress during lateral and posterior movements could be rather associated with food processing rather than hunting behavior.