On a superficial level, the predatory habits of the saber-toothed cat Smilodon would not seem to be especially mysterious. Traditionally – and incorrectly – restored as a lion with extra-long upper ...

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American Ice Age mammals loom large in our imagination ...

In public imagination, the sabre-toothed cat Smilodon ranks alongside Tyrannosaurus rex as the ultimate killing machine. Powerfully built, with upper canines like knives, Smilodon was a fearsome ...

A Smilodon fends off vultures at what would later be called the Rancho La Brea tar pits, situated in Los Angeles, California. Painting by Charles R. Knight. The feeding habits of saber-toothed cats ...

Aside from the woolly mammoth, no Pleistocene creature is more iconic than Smilodon. The vanished sabercat is a symbol of North America’s recently lost megafauna, but it’s also an Ice Age mystery.

How did the sabertooth cat wield its excess of tooth? Mark Kostich / iStock Of all the vicious smiles to have ever evolved, it’s hard to beat the grin of the aptly named Smilodon. The largest of these ...

Contributors -- Preface -- 1. Smilodon : a short history of becoming the iconic sabertooth / H. Gregory McDonald -- 2. The phylogenetic context of Smilodon / Lars Werdelin and Therese Flink -- 3.

Smilodon is a genus of sabre-toothed cat that lived some 2.5–0.01 million years ago in the forest and bush of the Americas. It is popularly known as the sabre-toothed tiger, although it is not closely ...

The extinct South American animal made us believe it was as fierce as a saber-tooth cat, but a new study suggests it was a mere scavenger. By Matt Kaplan Smilodon fatalis has its name for a reason.

It suggests that the prehistoric predators might have been able to feed on even the most giant prey of the Pleistocene era. By Joshua Sokol When the curator mentioned a huge saber-toothed tiger skull ...