Smilodon
This is the famous, fearsome-looking saber-toothed
tiger, Smilodon. Several fossil cats are known with hyper-enlarged
canine teeth. These fangs helped the cats bring down large prey
animals. Smilodon is known from the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene
of the Americas. An especially prolific locality for Smilodon
fossils is the La
Brea Tar Pits of California’s Los Angeles Basin.
Classification: Animalia, Vertebrata, Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae
Smilodon californicus Bovard, 1907 skeleton (above & below) from the La
Brea Tar Pits (Pleistocene) of Los Angeles, California, USA.
Some paleontologists consider Smilodon californicus a subspecies of Smilodon fatalis (see below).
(public display, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland,
Ohio, USA)
Smilodon californicus Bovard, 1907 skeleton (above & below) from the La
Brea Tar Pits (Pleistocene) of Los Angeles, California, USA.
(public display, Cleveland Museum of Natural History,
Cleveland, Ohio, USA)
Smilodon fatalis Leidy, 1869 (above & below) from
the La Brea Tar Pits (Pleistocene) of Los Angeles, California, USA.
(CM 10197, Carnegie Museum of Natural History,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)
Smilodon fatalis Leidy, 1869 (above & below) -
reconstructions based on specimens from the La Brea Tar Pits (Pleistocene) of Los
Angeles, California, USA.
(public display, Carnegie Museum of Natural History,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)
