leniwce-i-pancerniki: Smilodon

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

Smilodon is a genus of extinct felids. It is one of the best-known saber-toothed predators and prehistoric mammals. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats, belonging to the extinct subfamily Machairodontinae, with an estimated date of divergence from the ancestor of living cats around 20 million years ago. Smilodon was one of the last surviving machairodonts alongside Homotherium. Smilodon lived in the Americas during the Pleistocene to early Holocene epoch (2.5 mya – at latest 8,200 years ago). The genus was named in 1842 based on fossils from Brazil; the generic name means 'scalpel' or 'two-edged knife' combined wit…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 88

Evidence: 45 • authority: 92

Dietary ecology of Smilodon across time and space: Additional perspectives from Smilodon gracilis and Smilodon fatalis in Florida.. Smilodon, the iconic saber-toothed cat, was a Pleistocene apex predator comprised of three morphologically distinct species: Smilodon fatalis, Smilodon gracilis, and Smilodon populator. While at Rancho La Brea (RLB) the paleobiology of S. fatalis is analogous to African lions in terms of carcass utilization, far less is known about S. fatalis outside of southern California. Further, Smilodon gracilis specimens are rare and less studied throughout most of its former range. This study expands our understanding of Smilodon's dietary ecology in North America by usi…

Evidence: 41 • authority: 92

On the origins of the sabre-toothed felid model: functional anatomy of the hindlimb in Promegantereon ogygia (Felidae, Machairodontinae, Smilodontini) from the Late Miocene of Batallones-1 (Madrid, Spain).. The Spanish Late Miocene locality of Batallones-1 (Madrid, Spain) has yielded a very rich sample of large carnivorans, including hyaenids, mustelids, amphicyonids, ailurids, felines, and two species of sabre-toothed felids that represent the first radiation event of the subfamily Machairodontinae: Machairodus aphanistus and Promegantereon ogygia. The former was the size of a tiger and the top predator of the Batallones-1 community, whereas the latter was a much smaller animal, its body w…

Evidence: 33 • authority: 72

Thylacosmilus is an extinct genus of saber-toothed metatherian mammals that inhabited South America from the Late Miocene to Late Pliocene epochs. Though Thylacosmilus looks similar to the "saber-toothed cats", it was not a felid, like the well-known American Smilodon, but a sparassodont, a group closely related to marsupials, and only superficially resembled other saber-toothed mammals due to convergent evolution, with the aforementioned Thylacosmilus being one of the last known sparassodonts. A 2005 study found that the bite forces of Thylacosmilus and Smilodon were low, which indicates that the killing techniques of saber-toothed animals differed from those of extant species. Remains of…

Evidence: 33 • authority: 88

Evidence: 33 • authority: 92

Smilodon sabertooth bite marks, new perspectives on prey-predator models in South American Pleistocene.. Background Traditionally, saber-toothed cats, particularly species of the genus Smilodon, were considered unable to bite through bones due to the apparent fragility of their teeth. We analyze here megafauna fossil remains of Salto de Piedra palaeontological site (Humid Pampas), one of the few extensively radiometrically dated Pleistocene sites in Argentina and systematically excavated. Salto de Piedra is located near contemporary human occupation sites that have yielded megafauna remains. This spatial and chronological proximity provides an exceptional scenario to compare the prey ranges…

Evidence: 33 • authority: 72

A saber-tooth (alternatively spelled sabre-tooth) is any member of various extinct groups of predatory therapsids, predominantly carnivoran mammals, that are characterized by long, curved saber-shaped canine teeth which protruded from the mouth when closed. Among the earliest animals that can be described as "sabertooths" were Middle-Late Permian (~274-252 million years ago) non-mammalian therapsids including the gorgonopsians as well as some basal therocephalians (lycosuchids and scylacosaurids). Saber-toothed mammals have been found worldwide from the Eocene epoch to the early Holocene epoch (52.4 million years ago – 8,200 years ago). One of the best-known genera is the "saber-toothed cat…