Smilodon
| Smilodon | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
|
Smilodon ("knife tooth") is more commonly known as the sabertooth cat (or, formerly, sabertooth tiger). Smilodon lived approximately 3 million-10,000 years ago in North America and South America. It is the only known successor to Machairodus.
Three species of Smilodon are known to have existed:
- Smilodon fatalis, 1.6 million-10,000 years ago
- Smilodon gracilis, 2.5 million-500,000 years ago
- Smilodon populator, 1 million-10,000 years ago
Many Smilodon fossils have been unearthed at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, which is why it is the prehistoric cat researchers know the most about.
