>They don't stop the mouth from closing. Presumably they don't stop it from opening either.
That much is obvious. The question is how they get around sabre tooth without being a major obstruction to bite pieces of meat off.
As for the other animals, Elephants mostly use their trunks to put food in their mouths. Pigs, their teeth are not that huge comparatively speaking and less of an obstruction, plus the have a very long snouts. Walruses, I have no idea how they manage to feed either.
Canines are their hunting knives, where they need to penetrate deeply and then hold the piece in place until it is disabled. Canines are unable to chew properly, as they don't have a counterpart that works as the anvil, they just perforate. Also, the structure analysis show that canines would shatter if used to chew bones, so they where reserved to bite the neck or the belly while hunting.
It is speculated that the Sabre Tooth tigers (500 kg/1000 pounds) could take down a 3000 kg/6000 pound) megahervibore, that probably had a skin and fat as thick as a modern elephant. They needed those canines to kill those preys.
> Walruses, I have no idea how they manage to feed either.
they blow air on the sea floor to dislodge clams, use their whiskers to locate them and and then suck them out of their shell. I did not know walruses survive mostly on clams before today.
That much is obvious. The question is how they get around sabre tooth without being a major obstruction to bite pieces of meat off.
As for the other animals, Elephants mostly use their trunks to put food in their mouths. Pigs, their teeth are not that huge comparatively speaking and less of an obstruction, plus the have a very long snouts. Walruses, I have no idea how they manage to feed either.