Saber-toothed cat

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Saber-toothed cat

The terms saber-toothed cat, sabertooth, and saber-toothed tiger describe numerous species, mainly in the families FelidaeFelidae

Lions, tigers, domestic cats, and other felines are members of the Felidae family....
(subfamily MachairodontinaeMachairodontinae

Machairodontinae is a subfamily of the Felidae....
), BarbourofelidaeBarbourofelidae

Previously placed as a subfamily of Nimravidae, the Barbourofelinae have been recently assigned to their own distinct family, B...
, and NimravidaeNimravidae

The Nimravidae, also known as False sabre-tooths, are an extinct family of mammalian carnivores....
, but also including two marsupialMarsupial

Marsupials are mammals in which the female typically has a pouch in which it rears its young through early infancy....
families, that lived during various parts of the Cenozoic Era and evolved their saber-toothed characteristics entirely independently. They are most known for having maxillary canineMaxillary canine

The maxillary canine is the tooth located laterally from both maxillary lateral incisors of the mouth but mesial from both m...
s which were, in some species, up to 20 cm long and extended down from the mouth even when the mouth was closed. Saber-toothed cats were generally more robust than today's cats and were quite bear-like in build.

Saber-tooth genera

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

Genus Name	SpeciesSpecies In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity....	Appeared (MaAnnum Summary *Annum* is a Latin noun meaning year.... BPBefore Present Before Present years are the units of time used to report raw radiocarbon ages and dates referenced to the BP scale o... )	Died out (Ma BP)	Regions	Canine Size
SmilodonSmilodon *Smilodon* is an extinct genus of large machairodontine saber-toothed cats that are understood to have lived between appro...	6		0.008	North & South America	17-20cm
HoplophoneusHoplophoneus *Hoplophoneus* is an extinct genus of mammal lived during the late Oligocene, some 20 million years before Smilodon....	5	33.7	23.8	North & South America
EusmilusEusmilus *Eusmilus* is an extinct genus of mammal related to felines....	3	30.5	28	Europe, North & South America
DinictisDinictis *Dinictis* was a member of the Nimravid family, also known as "false saber-toothed cats"....	4	40	25	North America
DinaelurusDinaelurus *Dinaelurus* was a nimravid cat-like carnivore that lived during the late Eocene to the late Miocene age....	1	?	?	North America
Dinailurictis	1	?	?	?
Eofelis	1	?	?	?
Nimravidus (Nimravides)	2	?	?	?
NimravusNimravus *Nimravus* is an extinct genus genus of mammal related to felines.... (Nimravinus)	6	33.5	20	Europe, North America
Nimraviscus	1	?	?	?
PogonodonPogonodon Pogonodon was a cat-like sabre-tooth, smaller than a Smilodon. ...	2	15		Europe, North America
Quercylurus	1	?	?	?
Archaelurus	1	?	?	?
Aelurogale (Ailurictis)	1	?	?	?
Ictidailurus	1	?	?	?
Albanosmilus	3	18		Africa, Eurasia
Afrosmilus	1	25	10	Africa
BarbourofelisBarbourofelis Summary The lion-sized Barbourofelis was one of the most recent members of the Nimravidae family....	7	15		Africa, Eurasia
Ginsburgsmilus	1	23	10	Africa
Prosansanosmilus	2	18		Africa, Eurasia
Sansanosmilus	3	12		Africa, Eurasia
Syrtosmilus	1	23		Africa
Vampyrictis	1	15		Africa, Eurasia
Vishnusmilus	1	?	?	?
HomotheriumHomotherium *Homotherium* is a machairodontine saber-toothed cat genus that lived approximately 3 million to 10,000 years ago in North...	10		0.01	Africa, Eurasia, North America
ThylacosmilusThylacosmilus *Thylacosmilus* was a saber-toothed marsupial predator that lived about 3 million years ago....	2	10		South America	over 30 cm
MetailurusMetailurus *Metailurus* is a genus of machairodontine saber-toothed cats belonging to the tribe Metailurini that lived in Europe and ...	9	15		Eurasia
AdelphailurusAdelphailurus *Adelphailurus* is a genus of machairodontine saber-toothed cats belonging to the tribe Metailurini....	1	23		North America
ParamachairodusParamachairodus Paramachairodus is the oldest known true saber-toothed cat....	3	20–15		Europe
MachairodusMachairodus *Machairodus* was a genus of large, machairodontine saber-toothed cats that lived in Europe, Asia, Africa and North Americ... (Ancestral to Homotherium)	18	15		Africa, Eurasia, North America
MegantereonMegantereon The Megantereon was an early saber-toothed cat....	8		0.5	Africa, Eurasia, North America
DinofelisDinofelis *Dinofelis* is a genus of machairodontin saber-toothed cats belong to the tribe Metailurini that lived in Europe, Asia, Af...	6			Africa, Eurasia, North America
PontosmilusPontosmilus *Pontosmilus* is a genus of machairodontin saber-toothed cats ...	4	20		Eurasia
XenosmilusXenosmilus *Xenosmilus* is a genus of extinct Machairodontinae, or saber-toothed cat.... (1 specimen)	1			North America
Stenailurus	1	?	?	?
Epimachairodus	1	?	?	?
MiomachairodusMiomachairodus *Miomachairodus* was the earliest genus of machairodontine saber-toothed cats....	1	?	?	?
Hemimachairodus	1	?	?	?
Ischyrosmilus	1	?	?	?

Saber-tooth evolutionary tree

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

The lineage that led to ThylacosmilusThylacosmilus

Thylacosmilus was a saber-toothed marsupial predator that lived about 3 million years ago....
was the first to split off, in the late CretaceousCretaceous

The Cretaceous Period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic Period ...
. It is a marsupialMarsupial

Marsupials are mammals in which the female typically has a pouch in which it rears its young through early infancy....
, and thus more closely related to kangarooKangaroo

A kangaroo is any of several large macropods ....
s and opossums than the felineFelidae

Lions, tigers, domestic cats, and other felines are members of the Felidae family....
s. The creodonts diverged next, and then the nimravids, before the blossoming of the truly feline saber-tooths.

Class MammalMammal

The mammals are the class of vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of mammary glands, which in females produce mi...
ia

Subclass MarsupialMarsupial

Marsupials are mammals in which the female typically has a pouch in which it rears its young through early infancy....
ia (diverged ?, in the CretaceousCretaceous

The Cretaceous Period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic Period ...
)

Order †SparassodontaSparassodonta Summary

Sparassodonta is an extinct order of carnivorous marsupial mammals native to South America....
(an extinct group of marsupial carnivores)

Family †BorhyaenidaeBorhyaenidae Summary

The Borhyaenids were a carnivorous group of otter/wolverine-shaped marsupials in the order Sparassodonta....
Family †Thylacosmilidae

†ThylacosmilusThylacosmilus

Thylacosmilus was a saber-toothed marsupial predator that lived about 3 million years ago....

Subclass Placentalia

Order †CreodontaCreodonta

The creodonts are an extinct order of mammals that lived from the Paleocene to the Pliocene epoch. ...
(diverged ?, in the PaleoceneFacts About Paleocene

The Paleocene, "early dawn of the recent", is a geologic epoch that lasted from 65 Mya to 56 Mya ....
)

Family †HyaenodontidaeHyaenodontidae

Hyaenodontidae is a family of the extinct order Creodonta, which contains 4 genera....

†HyaenodonFacts About Hyaenodon

Hyaenodon was an extinct genus of Hyaenodonts, a group of Creodonts....
†Boualitomus
†Laekitherium
†Metapterodon
†Triacodon
†Parvagula

Order CarnivoraCarnivora

The diverse order Carnivora includes over 260 placental mammals....

Family †NimravidaeNimravidae

The Nimravidae, also known as False sabre-tooths, are an extinct family of mammalian carnivores....
(diverged from the feliforms 48–55 Ma BP, in the late Eocene)

Subfamily †NimravinaeNimravus

Nimravus is an extinct genus genus of mammal related to felines....
Subfamily †HoplophoninaeHoplophoneus

Hoplophoneus is an extinct genus of mammal lived during the late Oligocene, some 20 million years before Smilodon....

Suborder FeliformiaFeliformia

The Feliformia are a suborder within the order Carnivora and includes the 'true-cats' , hyenas, mongooses, civets and relat...
('cat-like' carnivores)

Family †BarbourofelidaeBarbourofelidae

Previously placed as a subfamily of Nimravidae, the Barbourofelinae have been recently assigned to their own distinct family, B...
(sister taxa to Felidae)
Family FelidaeFelidae

Lions, tigers, domestic cats, and other felines are members of the Felidae family....
(true cats)

Subfamily †MachairodontinaeMachairodontinae

Machairodontinae is a subfamily of the Felidae....
(diverged ?, in the ?)

Tribe †Homotheriini

†HomotheriumHomotherium

Homotherium is a machairodontine saber-toothed cat genus that lived approximately 3 million to 10,000 years ago in North...
†MachairodusMachairodus

Machairodus was a genus of large, machairodontine saber-toothed cats that lived in Europe, Asia, Africa and North Americ...
†XenosmilusXenosmilus

Xenosmilus is a genus of extinct Machairodontinae, or saber-toothed cat....

Tribe †MetailuriniMetailurini

Metailurini is a tribe of extinct machairodontine saber-toothed cats....

†DinofelisDinofelis Overview

Dinofelis is a genus of machairodontin saber-toothed cats belong to the tribe Metailurini that lived in Europe, Asia, Af...
†MetailurusMetailurus

Metailurus is a genus of machairodontine saber-toothed cats belonging to the tribe Metailurini that lived in Europe and ...

Tribe †SmilodontiniSmilodontini

Smilodontini is an extinct tribe of "saber-toothed cats", contained within the Machairodontinae subfamily of the Felidae....

†MegantereonMegantereon

The Megantereon was an early saber-toothed cat....
†ParamachairodusFacts About Paramachairodus

Paramachairodus is the oldest known true saber-toothed cat....
†SmilodonSmilodon

Smilodon is an extinct genus of large machairodontine saber-toothed cats that are understood to have lived between appro...

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