Page 127 - Prehistoric Animals

Smil-O-Don

Smilodon

Smilodon (Knife Tooth) is a genus of felids belonging to
the extinct subfamily Machairodontinae*. It roamed the planet
during the Pleistocene, 2.5 million years ago to 10,000 years
ago. There are three ‘popular’ species the largest S. Popula-
tor (South America) was about 220 to 436 kg (485 to 961 lb)
in weight and 120 cm (47 in) in height. S. Fatalis (North
America) weighed in around 160 to 280 kg (350 to 620 lb) and
stood 100 cm (39 in) in height. S. Gracilis (North America),
the smallest of the species, weighed in around 55 to 100 kg
(120 to 220 lb).

Throughout the ages the Sabre tooth cat has been por-
trayed in an aggressive posture, wide mouthed and with its
long canine teeth flashing menacingly. Smilodon is no excep-
tion to this portrayal. However, what Smilodon used these
teeth for and why it needed them, is a mystery. Fossils have
shown these teeth were the weakest in its mouth, several fos-
sils have been found showing them broken off. Also, to accom-
modate such long teeth and bite down on flesh, its jaws would
have had to open much wider; at 120 degrees, as opposed to
modern day cats at 65 degrees. This could possibly have weak-
ened its ability to have a powerful crushing bite.

Smilodon was very robust and powerfully built, with, S.
Populator, the heaviest built cat of its time. With this muscular
build its unlikely Smilodon could run for any length of time,
possibly only capable of just short bursts of speed. Fossil rec-
ords have shown however, that it was capable of jumping, and
its forelimbs were exceptionally muscular, which would have
allowed it to grip its prey tightly while dragging it to the
ground. This would have made the very heavy S. Populator, at
least, a predatory stalker. Unlike its ancestor Machairodus (see
page 72) who could climb trees and ascend to rocky ledges and
drop on its prey, Smilodon, due to its muscular build, was pos-
sibly restricted to a more terrestrial existence. Although the
fossils of Smilodon, give no clues to what animals it preyed on,
this majestic Sabre tooth cat roamed the planet for millions of
years and was clearly very successful. However, 15 to 10,000
years ago it simply disappeared. No one knows why, but its
thought that drastic changes in its environment finally drove it
to extinction.
*Machairodontinae… (Wikipedia)
is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the family Felidae (true
cats). They were found in Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Europe
from the Miocene to the Pleistocene, living from about 16 million until about
11,000 years ago