Smilodon is a genus of the extinct machairodont subfamily of the felids.
It is one of the most famous prehistoric mammals and the best known saber-toothed cat. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats.
An apex predator, Smilodon used their exceptionally long upper canine teeth to hunt large mammals.
Isotopes preserved in the bones of S. fatalis in the La Brea Tar Pits tell us that they liked to dine on bison (Bison antiquus) and camels (Camelops) along with deer and tapirs. Smilodon is thought to have killed its prey by holding it still with its forelimbs and biting it.
Their razor-sharp incisors were arranged in an arch. Once they bit down, the teeth would hold their prey still and stabilize it while the canine bite was delivered — and what a bite that was. They could open their mouths a full 120 degrees.
Smilodon died out at the same time that most North and South American megafauna disappeared, about 10,000 years ago. Its reliance on large animals has been proposed as the cause of its extinction, along with climate change and competition with other species.
Illustration. S. fatalis with spotted coat. By Dantheman9758 at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42290827
