Saber-toothed cat

Saber Toothed Cat

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Saber-toothed cat

The terms sabre-toothed cat, sabretooth, and sabre-toothed tiger describe numerous species, mainly in the families Felidae

Felidae

Felidae is the family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. Felids are the most strictly Carnivore of the sixteen mammal families in the order Carnivora....
(subfamily Machairodontinae

Machairodontinae

The Machairodontinae form a subfamily of the Felidae . It contains some of the extinct cats commonly known as "saber-toothed cats", including the famed genus Smilodon as well as other cats with only minor increases in the size and length of their maxillary canines....
), Barbourofelidae

Barbourofelidae

Barbourofelidae is an extinct family of mammalian Carnivora. Previously placed as a subfamily of the extinct Nimravidae, the barbourofelids have been recently assigned to their own distinct family, and are now thought to be taxonomically closer to the Felidae than to the Nimravidae....
, and Nimravidae

Nimravidae

The Nimravidae, sometimes known as false sabre-tooths, are an extinct family of mammalian Carnivora. Although some nimravids physically resembled the saber-toothed cats of genus Smilodon, they were not closely related, but Evolution a similar form through parallel evolution....
, but also including two marsupial

Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by a distinctive Pouch , in which females carry their young through early infancy....
families, that lived during various parts of the Cenozoic Era and evolved their sabre

Sabre

The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually but not always has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large Guard , covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger....
-toothed characteristics entirely independently. They are most known for having maxillary canine

Maxillary canine

The maxillary canine is the tooth located laterally from both maxillary lateral incisors of the mouth but mesial from both maxillary first premolars....
s which were, in some species, up to 20 cm long and extended down from the mouth even when the mouth was closed.

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Sabre-tooth genera

The first sabre-toothed cats appeared sometime during the Mid-Eocene, and the last genera died out thousands of years ago. The genera of sabre-toothed cats, along with the regions and time periods where they have been found, is summarized here.

Genus Name	Species Species In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....	Appeared (Ma Annum *Annum* is one form of the Latin noun meaning year, not a form normally used for derivatives in modern languages: the accusative case Grammatical number of the second declension grammatical gender noun annus , anni .... BP Before Present Before Present years are a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other science disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use 1950 Common_Era as the arbitrary origin of the age scale.... )	Died out (Ma BP)	Regions	Canine Size
Smilodon Smilodon *Smilodon* , sometimes called sabre-toothed cat, is an extinction genus of large Machairodontinae saber-toothed cats that lived between approximately 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago in North America and South America....	6		10,000 ya	North & South America	17-20cm
Hoplophoneus Hoplophoneus *Hoplophoneus* is an extinct genus of mammal that is often referred to as a Saber-toothed cat. Actually they are false saber-toothed cats belonging to the family Nimravidae, which originated roughly 55 million years ago....	5	33.7	23.8	North & South America
Eusmilus Eusmilus *Eusmilus* is a prehistoric mammal, belonging to the nimravids, a now-extinct group of the feliformia. It was a dirk-toothed cat-like animal found in France and parts of North America during the late Oligocene ....	3	30.5	28	Europe, North & South America
Dinictis Dinictis *Dinictis* was a member of the Nimravid family, also known as "false saber-toothed cats". It had a sleek body long, short legs high with only incompletely retractable claws, powerful jaws, and a long tail....	4	40	25	North America
Dinaelurus Dinaelurus *Dinaelurus* was a nimravid cat-like carnivore that lived during the late Eocene to the late Miocene age. It is believed that Dinaelurus was a cursorial predator meaning it ran down its prey....	1	?	?	North America
Dinailurictis Dinailurictis *Dinailurictis* is a member of Nimravidae family "false sabre tooths" , belonging to subfamily Nimravinae. Dinailurictis lived during Late Oligocene in Europe....	1	?	?	?
Eofelis	1	?	?	?
Nimravidus (Nimravides)	2	?	?	?
Nimravus Nimravus *Nimravus* is an extinct genus of sabertoothed, predatory Feliformia mammals related to Felidae. Its name is a reference to the Biblical character Nimrod , as the generic name Nimravus is a compound word composed of "Nimrod" and "Avus ," thus translating as "Ancestor of Nimrod."... (Nimravinus)	6	33.5	20	Europe, North America
Nimraviscus	1	?	?	?
Pogonodon Pogonodon Pogonodon was a genus of saber-toothed cats belonging to the Nimravidae, an extinct carnivoran family that strongly resembled the modern Felidae in overall appearance....	2	15		Europe, North America
Quercylurus Quercylurus *Quercylurus* is a genus of a Nimravidae family "false sabre-tooths" belonging to subfamily Nimravinae, which lived during Late Oligocene in Europe....	1	?	?	?
Archaelurus	1	?	?	?
Aelurogale (Ailurictis)	1	?	?	?
Ictidailurus	1	?	?	?
Albanosmilus Albanosmilus Albanosmilus is a genus of a Nimravidae family belonging to subfamily Barbourofelinae. It lived during Middle and Upper Miocene in Europe, Asia, and North America....	3	18		Africa, Eurasia
Afrosmilus	1	25	10	Africa
Barbourofelis Barbourofelis The lion-sized Barbourofelis was one of the most recent members of the Barbourofelidae family. It lived during the late Miocene and had the longest Canine tooth of all barbourofelids....	7	15		Africa, Eurasia
Ginsburgsmilus Ginsburgsmilus *Ginsburgsmilus* is a genus of a prehistoric saber-toothed cat which lived 23-10 million years ago in Africa. There is only one known specimen of Ginsburgsmilus napakensis....	1	23	10	Africa
Prosansanosmilus Prosansanosmilus Prosansanosmilus is a genus of prehistoric cat belonging to the Barbourofelidae family.Like all barbourofelids, Prosansanosmilus was very muscular, short legged, and probably walked plantigrade ....	2	18		Africa, Eurasia
Sansanosmilus Sansanosmilus Sansanosmilus is a genus of extinct feliform mammals belonging to family Barbourofelidae. It lived from Middle to Upper Miocene in Europe, Asia and North America....	3	12		Africa, Eurasia
Syrtosmilus	1	23		Africa
Vampyrictis	1	15		Africa, Eurasia
Vishnusmilus	1	?	?	?
Homotherium Homotherium *Homotherium* is a genus of machairodontinae saber-toothed cats, often termed scimitar cats, that lived approximately 5 million to 10,000 years ago in North America, South America, Eurasia and Africa....	10		0.01	Africa, Eurasia, North & South America
Thylacosmilus Thylacosmilus *Thylacosmilus* was a genus of sabre-toothed marsupial predators that first appeared during the Miocene. Remains of the animal have been found in parts of South America, primarily Argentina.... (marsupial Marsupial Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by a distinctive Pouch , in which females carry their young through early infancy.... )	2	10		South America	over 30 cm
Metailurus Metailurus *Metailurus* is a genus of false saber-toothed cats belonging to the tribe Metailurini that lived in Europe and Asia approximately 9-6 million years ago....	9	15		Eurasia
Adelphailurus Adelphailurus *Adelphailurus* is a genus of feline saber-toothed cats belonging to the tribe Metailurini. It is known by a single type specimen found in Kansas dated back to the late Miocene epoch....	1	23		North America (Kansas Kansas The State of Kansas is a Midwestern U.S. state in the Central United States of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the United States "Heartland".... )
Paramachairodus Paramachairodus Paramachairodus is one of the oldest known true saber-toothed cats . A large number of fossils were discovered in Cerro Batallones, a Late Miocene fossil site near Madrid, Spain....	3	20–15		Europe
Machairodus Machairodus *Machairodus* was a genus of large, Machairodontinae saber-toothed cats that lived in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America from approximately 13 million years ago to 2 million years ago.... (Ancestral to Homotherium)	18	15		Africa, Eurasia, North America
Megantereon Megantereon *Megantereon* was an ancient Machairodontinae saber-toothed cat that may be the ancestor of Smilodon....	8		0.5	Africa, Eurasia, North America
Dinofelis Dinofelis *Dinofelis* is a genus of saber-toothed cats belonging to the tribe Metailurini. They were widespread in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America at least 5 million to about 1.2 million years ago ....	6			Africa, Eurasia, North America
Pontosmilus Pontosmilus *Pontosmilus* is a genus of Machairodontinae saber-toothed cats...	4	20		Eurasia
Xenosmilus Xenosmilus *Xenosmilus* is a genus of extinct Machairodontinae, or saber-toothed cat. Two fairly intact specimens were found by amateur fossil hunters, in 1983 in the Haile limestone mines in Alachua County, Florida, Florida.... (1 specimen)	1			North America (Florida Florida Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast.... )
Stenailurus	1	?	?	?
Epimachairodus	1	?	?	?
Miomachairodus Miomachairodus *Miomachairodus* was the earliest genus of Machairodontinae saber-toothed cats. It is known from Africa and Turkey since the middle Miocene. Miomachairodus coexisted together with the Barbourofelidae Barbourofelis in Anatolia and survived until the Late Miocene ....	1	?	?	?
Hemimachairodus	1	?	?	?
Ischyrosmilus	1	?	?	?

Sabre-tooth evolutionary tree

All sabre-tooth mammals lived between 33.7 million and 9,000 years ago, but the evolutionary lines that led to the various sabre-tooth genera started to diverge much earlier.

The lineage that led to Thylacosmilus
Thylacosmilus

Thylacosmilus was a genus of sabre-toothed marsupial predators that first appeared during the Miocene. Remains of the animal have been found in parts of South America, primarily Argentina....
was the first to split off, in the late Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide, is a geologic period from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period....
. It is a marsupial

Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by a distinctive Pouch , in which females carry their young through early infancy....
, and thus more closely related to kangaroo

Kangaroo

A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the Red Kangaroo, the Antilopine Kangaroo, and the Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo of the Macropus genus....
s and opossums than the feline

Felidae

Class Mammal
Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
ia

Subclass Marsupial
Marsupial

Marsupials are an infraclass of mammals, characterized by a distinctive Pouch , in which females carry their young through early infancy....
ia (diverged ?, in the Cretaceous
Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide, is a geologic period from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period....
)

Order †Sparassodonta
Sparassodonta

Sparassodonta is an extinct order of carnivore metatheria mammals native to South America. They were once considered to be true marsupials, but are now thought to be a sister taxon to them....
(an extinct group of marsupial carnivores)

Family †Borhyaenidae
Borhyaenidae

The borhyaenids, members of the Borhyaenidae family of metatherians , were a carnivorous group of otter/wolverine-shaped marsupials in the order Sparassodonta....
Family †Thylacosmilidae

†Thylacosmilus
Thylacosmilus

Thylacosmilus was a genus of sabre-toothed marsupial predators that first appeared during the Miocene. Remains of the animal have been found in parts of South America, primarily Argentina....

Subclass Placentalia

Order †Creodonta
Creodonta

The creodonts are an extinct order of mammals that lived from the Paleocene to the Miocene epochs. They shared a common ancestor with the Carnivora....
(diverged ?, in the Paleocene
Paleocene

The Paleocene or Palaeocene, "early dawn of the recent" is a geologic epoch that lasted from 65.5 ? 0.3 Mega-annum to 55.8 ? 0.2 Ma . It is the first epoch of the Palaeogene Period in the modern Cenozoic era ....
)

Family †Hyaenodontidae
Hyaenodontidae

Hyaenodontidae is a family of the extinct Order Creodonta, which contains several dozen genus.The Hyaenodontids were important mammalian predators that arose during the late Paleocene and persisted well into the Miocene ....

†Hyaenodon
Hyaenodon

Hyaenodon is an extinction genus of Hyaenodontidae, a group of Creodonts. Some species of this genus were amongst the largest terrestrial carnivore mammals of their time, others were only of the size of a marten....
†Boualitomus
†Laekitherium
†Metapterodon
†Triacodon
†Parvagula
†Machaeroides
Machaeroides

Machaeroides is a genus of sabre-toothed creodont that lived during the Eocene. Its fossils were found in the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the earliest known sabre-toothed mammal....

Order Carnivora
Carnivora

The diverse Order Carnivora includes over 260 species of eutheria mammals. Its members are formally referred to as carnivorans, while the word "carnivore" can refer to any meat-eating animal....

Family †Nimravidae
Nimravidae

The Nimravidae, sometimes known as false sabre-tooths, are an extinct family of mammalian Carnivora. Although some nimravids physically resembled the saber-toothed cats of genus Smilodon, they were not closely related, but Evolution a similar form through parallel evolution....
(diverged from the feliforms 48–55 Ma BP, in the late Eocene)

Subfamily †Nimravinae
Nimravus

Nimravus is an extinct genus of sabertoothed, predatory Feliformia mammals related to Felidae. Its name is a reference to the Biblical character Nimrod , as the generic name Nimravus is a compound word composed of "Nimrod" and "Avus ," thus translating as "Ancestor of Nimrod."...
(Dinictis
Dinictis

Dinictis was a member of the Nimravid family, also known as "false saber-toothed cats". It had a sleek body long, short legs high with only incompletely retractable claws, powerful jaws, and a long tail....
)
Subfamily †Hoplophoninae
Hoplophoneus

Hoplophoneus is an extinct genus of mammal that is often referred to as a Saber-toothed cat. Actually they are false saber-toothed cats belonging to the family Nimravidae, which originated roughly 55 million years ago....

Suborder Feliformia
Feliformia

The Feliformia are a suborder within the order Carnivora and includes the 'true-cats' , hyenas, mongooses, civets and related taxa. The other suborder of Carnivora is Caniformia ....
('cat-like' carnivores)

Family †Barbourofelidae
Barbourofelidae

Barbourofelidae is an extinct family of mammalian Carnivora. Previously placed as a subfamily of the extinct Nimravidae, the barbourofelids have been recently assigned to their own distinct family, and are now thought to be taxonomically closer to the Felidae than to the Nimravidae....
(sister taxa to Felidae)
Family Felidae
Felidae

Felidae is the family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. Felids are the most strictly Carnivore of the sixteen mammal families in the order Carnivora....
(true cats)

Subfamily †Machairodontinae
Machairodontinae

The Machairodontinae form a subfamily of the Felidae . It contains some of the extinct cats commonly known as "saber-toothed cats", including the famed genus Smilodon as well as other cats with only minor increases in the size and length of their maxillary canines....
(diverged ?, in the ?)

Tribe †Homotheriini

†Homotherium
Homotherium

Homotherium is a genus of machairodontinae saber-toothed cats, often termed scimitar cats, that lived approximately 5 million to 10,000 years ago in North America, South America, Eurasia and Africa....
†Machairodus
Machairodus

Machairodus was a genus of large, Machairodontinae saber-toothed cats that lived in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America from approximately 13 million years ago to 2 million years ago....
†Xenosmilus
Xenosmilus

Xenosmilus is a genus of extinct Machairodontinae, or saber-toothed cat. Two fairly intact specimens were found by amateur fossil hunters, in 1983 in the Haile limestone mines in Alachua County, Florida, Florida....

Tribe †Metailurini
Metailurini

Metailurini is a tribe of extinct cats with canines longer than neofelids but smaller than true saber toothed cats. The teeth are more conical than flat as well....

†Dinofelis
Dinofelis

Dinofelis is a genus of saber-toothed cats belonging to the tribe Metailurini. They were widespread in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America at least 5 million to about 1.2 million years ago ....
†Metailurus
Metailurus

Metailurus is a genus of false saber-toothed cats belonging to the tribe Metailurini that lived in Europe and Asia approximately 9-6 million years ago....

Tribe †Smilodontini
Smilodontini

Smilodontini is an extinct tribe of "saber-toothed cats", contained within the Machairodontinae subfamily of the Felidae. As the name suggests, the famous genus of Smilodon is part of this group, but there are also two other distinct genera in Smilodontini....

†Megantereon
Megantereon

Megantereon was an ancient Machairodontinae saber-toothed cat that may be the ancestor of Smilodon....
†Paramachairodus
Paramachairodus

Paramachairodus is one of the oldest known true saber-toothed cats . A large number of fossils were discovered in Cerro Batallones, a Late Miocene fossil site near Madrid, Spain....
†Smilodon
Smilodon

Smilodon , sometimes called sabre-toothed cat, is an extinction genus of large Machairodontinae saber-toothed cats that lived between approximately 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago in North America and South America....

Literature

D. Mol / W. v. Logchem / K. v. Hooijdonk / R. Bakker: The Saber-Toothed Cat, DrukWare, Norg 2008, ISBN 978-90-78707-04-2

Saber-toothed cat

Sabre-tooth genera

Sabre-tooth evolutionary tree

Literature

External links