
Fun Facts About Sabertooth Cats
Sabertooth Cats have been described as the T. rex of mammals because they were fearsome predators. These famous Ice Age mammals ranged widely through North and South America. They roamed the planet after dinosaurs and went extinct around 10,000 years ago. Sabertooth cats are related to modern cats, but there are no real descendants of sabertooth cats today. Here are some fun facts:
- Sabertooth cats lived at the same time as early humans.
- There is no such thing as a sabertooth tiger. Sabertooth cats are in their own family of feline and only distantly related to leopards, lions, and tigers.
- The sabertooth cat was built to ambush and pounce on its prey. It had a short tail and muscular build.
- There are multiple species of sabertooth cats. Fossils from 2 species have been found in Arizona.
- Smilodon is the most famous type of sabertooth cat. It is California’s state fossil.
- Smilodon fatalis means ‘deadly knife tooth.’ Its canine teeth were 7 inches, and it could open its mouth 130 degrees!
- Sabertooth cats first appeared in the fossil record around 2 million years ago.
- Fossil evidence suggests that sabertooth cats were social and may have lived in groups to care for each other.
- Thousands of sabertooth cats were trapped in the La Brea Tar Pits located in Los Angeles, California. Over a million bones have been excavated from these pits over the last 100 years.
Well-known for their long canines, sabertooth cats are some of the most recognizable prehistoric animals besides dinosaurs. They’re extinct, but we can continue to learn about them from the fossils they left behind.