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Saber Toothed Tigers
Saber toothed tiger is the common name of a number of extinct prehistoric felids often misconceived as tigers. Characterized by grossly oversized canine teeth, these fierce predators were a powerful force to reckoned with, and have come to captain prehistoric predators in the common mind.
249 Questions
What period did saber-toothed tigers die in?
There are many kinds of sabertooth in the world and most of it live in Triassic and Jurassic periods but it you guys want to know more you guy need to tell what kinds of the Sabertooth you want to know.
What colors are saber-toothed cats?
Like most extinct, prehistoric animals, the only evidence of saber toothed cats are bones. Without preserved skin and fur, we can't determine the color of any saber toothed cats. However, because there were so many species of saber toothed cats, they probably came in a variety of colors.
Is a saber-toothed tiger a carnivore?
Tigers are meat eaters and, as such, are considered to be carnivores.
What unique features did the saber-toothed tiger have?
Saber Tooth Tiger
The Saber Tooth Tigers are some of the best known and most popular of ice age animals. They are among the most impressive carnivores that ever have lived. Two different types of saber toothed tigers lived in the mid-western U.S. at the end of the ice age. One of the most familiar saber tooth tiger was (genus smilodon). These cats had enlarged canines usually associated with the name saber tooth. Their canines were up to 7 inches long (18 centimeters)! The second type is the less known (genus Homotherium). These cats had shorter canines about ten centimeters (4 inches) long. The canines were also flatter at the tips. Some of the differences can be seen by comparing the homotherium cat to the smilodon cat.
Saber Tooth Tigers probably lived in grassy plains, open woodlands, and other dry areas. Saber Tooth Tigers probably feasted on large animals such as, horses, buffalo, deer, and antelope. Saber Tooth Tigers lived in North America and South America. The saber tooth tiger was one of a kind. There are no close living relatives today but paleontologists reconstruct the skeleton of a saber tooth tiger to some of the largest living cats today.
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Where have people found saber-toothed Tiger fossils?
Fossils indicate that saber-toothed tigers lived from 40 million years ago until about 11,000 years ago. Scientists found fossils of a previously unknown type of saber-toothed cat in Florida in 1999. Scientists believe this cat, which they named Xenosmilus, was more bearlike than catlike.
What are the saber-toothed tigers defenses?
The saber-tooth tiger has one unknown weakness. Although their teeth are large and long, they are actually very weak. They broke off very easily.
What do the saber-toothed tiger and the Bengal tiger have in common?
Both are large, powerful cats. Siberians average a bit bigger, with males averaging 490-550 pounds, with exceptional individuals reaching 650 pounds. There are documented records of male Bengals reaching 600 pounds and more.
What is the saber tooth tigers behavior?
Because saber toothed cats became extinct before written records, much of the behavior of saber toothed cats can only be speculated on.
There is a possibility that some species of saber toothed cats lived in groups, like modern lions. Some evidence for this is that there are bones of saber toothed cats who were crippled, but had enough time to partially heal before they died. This only seems possible if they were cared for by other members of the group.
Judging by their body structure, they hunted by ambushing prey such as bison or mammoth to a close distance (they weren't fast runners), and then they would tackle it with their very strong and muscular forelimbs. They would kill their prey by opening their mouth 90 degrees and then using their strong neck to stab the animal in the throat (they had a weaker bite force then modern big cats).
How much does a saber-toothed cat weigh?
Saber toothed cats were a subfamily of cats, known by scientists as Machairodontinae. There were many genera and species, and each species had its own size. Some famous species include Smilodon fatalis, which weighed between 350 and 620 lbs, similar to Siberian tigers, and Smilodon populator, which weighed up to 1,000 lbs and was the largest known species of saber toothed cat.
When did saber-toothed tiger live in?
The term saber-toothed cat describes numerous cat-like species that lived during various parts of the Cenozoic and evolved their saber-toothed characteristics entirely independently. The saber-tooth morphology is an excellent example of convergent evolution as it occurred repeatedly and independently in at least four distinct mammalian groups. All saber-tooth mammals lived between 9,000 and 33.7 million years ago, but the evolutionary lines that lead to the various saber-tooth genera started to diverge much earlier. The lineage that led to Thylacosmilus was the first to split off, in the late Cretaceous. It is a marsupial, and thus more closely related to kangaroos and opossums than the felines. The creodonts diverged next, and then the nimravids, before the blossoming of the truly feline saber-tooths.
Different species of saber toothed cats existed between 23 million and 10,000 years ago.
How fast can a saber-toothed tiger ran?
Saber toothed cats weren't built for speed. The most famous genus of saber toothed cats, Smilodon, had a short lumbar region in the back and longer forelimbs than hind limbs, two traits that don't make very good runners. When it comes to hunting, saber toothed cats probably used stealth to get close to their prey, and then would tackle it with their muscular forelimbs. There is some evidence the Smilodon may even have hunted in packs.
Who were the saber-toothed tigers enemies?
Smilodon fatalis was the North American saber-tooth, smilodon populator was the larger South American saber-tooth. In North America, their contemporaries included the giant short faced bear, the American lion, the dire wolf, the grey wolf, the brown bear, and eventually the Clovis peoples. All of these animals would have been in contention with one another for natural resources such as hunting grounds, food and water.
Under the right conditions any of these beasties would have been able to kill or be killed by one another. Fossil evidence indicates the the saber tooth was a social animal and may have lived in prides like lions which would have increased their ability to survive.
In the end, a radically changing environment leading to a mass extinction of prey animals, competition with other predators for dwindling resources and the introduction of the Clovis peoples to the America lead to the demise and final extinction of the saber tooth cats and their lineage about 10,000 years ago.
What did the saber-toothed cat feed on?
Adult Smilodon Predators Occasionally Got Eaten By There Predators. The Predators Were Dire Wolf, Short Faced Bear, People And On Very Occasions, Megatherium. Megatheriums Will Occasionally Supplement There Diet On Meat To Get Better Digestion, I Think. I Don't Excatly Know What Megatheriums Ate Meat For.
Saber-toothed tigers taxonomy?
Sabertooth Tiger Classification: Kingdom: Animalia (Animals) Phylum: Chordata (Chordates) Sub-Phylum: Vertabrata (Vertabrates) Class: Mammalia (Mammals) Order: Carnivora (Ursadaes, Felines, Canines, Mustelids) Family: Felidae (Felines) Sub-Family: Machairodontinae (Extinct Felines) Genus: Smilodon (Sabertoothed cats) Species: Smilodon fatalis (Sabertooth tigers**) Sabertooth Tiger Classification: Kingdom: Animalia (Animals) Phylum: Chordata (Chordates) Sub-Phylum: Vertabrata (Vertabrates) Class: Mammalia (Mammals) Order: Carnivora (Ursadaes, Felines, Canines, Mustelids) Family: Felidae (Felines) Sub-Family: Machairodontinae (Extinct Felines) Genus: Smilodon (Sabertoothed cats) Species: Smilodon fatalis (Sabertooth tigers**)
How do saber-toothed tigers feed?
The saber-toothed cat defended itself primarily with its claws. It can easily reach out and slash an antagonist. It should be noted that in spite of having the elongated teeth for which it is famous, these teeth can be broken, and the big cat had to take a bit of care when using them, even in its own defense. If you have ever watched footage of a modern big cat attacking something or defending itself, the beast leads with its claws in either case where the chips are down. And so did Smilodon and its cousins. Note that the cat might run from a given antagonist, or it might climb if it is able to do so. It also growled, roared, hissed and spat to intimidate enemies, just like the big cats of today. A link can be found below. Also check YouTube for footage of big cats in conflict and see what they do.
Why did saber-toothed cats become extinct?
TEXALEX94's ANSWER
There used to be a staggering variety of saber-toothed cat species from all over the globe, the most well-known (and largest) of which was the Smilodon of North and South America. These were also the last surviving saber toothed cats, and they died out about 10,000 years ago. They probably died out because many of the large prey animals that they depended on, such as mammoths and ground sloths, became extinct. The reasons that their prey died out are still under debate, and possible theories include climate change, disease spread by humans, or overhunting by humans.
ANSWER
Sabre-toothed tigers are believed by mainstream scientists to have become extinct mainly because their climate was ever changing. They lived in the Ice Age, and they supposedly disappeared shortly after because of the sudden temperature increase. Man also lived in the same habitat as the tiger's and he hunted the Sabre-Toothed tigers prey, meaning that they had limited supplies of food. This meant that the food chain of the Sabre-toothed tiger was damaged, and meant that very few of them could survive. Yet, this theory does not stand up to scientific scrutiny and it's not very likely either that this is what happened.
The most debated and most ridiculous answer is that the long teeth that the tiger's had were almost too long, meaning that they couldn't bite their prey's neck, without fear of breaking their canines. Instead, they had to gouge the bellies of the animals which was a lot more dangerous and risky, so these dangers stopped them from hunting, so they didn't survive. The most probable answer then is that Saber-toothed cats survived til modern day and might still be alive in Europe, Africa, and North- and South America. And this is investigated by cryptozoologists who have collected a series of eyewitness reports. However, there is also still a Saber-tooth relative alive today: the Clouded Leopard. Scientists are not sure, at this time, why the saber toothed tigers died out roughly 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. The prevailing belief is that climate change and the loss of the bigger prey animals at the end of the ice age rang the death knell of the saber toothed tigers.
Saber toothed cats have been extinct for about 10,000 years. Nobody is sure why they died out, but they probably died out because most of the large animals that they hunted and relied on died out. Why these animals became extinct is still in debate.
nobdy knows, like the dinos. :(
How many fossils do saber-toothed tigers have?
The "saber-toothed tiger," Smilodon, is the CaliforniaState Fossil and the second most common fossil mammal found in the La Brea tar pits. The name "saber-toothed tiger" is misleading as these animals are not closely related to tigers
Can a saber-toothed cat defeat a tiger?
That is a very good question. First, Tigers were never in Africa in the wild. Secondly the "Saber toothed tiger" was never really a tiger at all. It was a very very distant relative of the tiger. But if put together, the outcome would be fierce. The largest Sabre-Tooth weighed around 700 pounds. The very largest tigers have been known to get to be around the same size. The Sabre-Tooth was not as agile as a tiger is, but the long canine teeth they had, that gave them the name Sabre-tooth, could be deadly if they got a bite on the tiger. The tiger would use its extremely strong fore legs to rain sledge hammer blows to the Sabre-Tooth, and, if the Sabre-Tooth went down, the more active tiger would take advantage for a neck bite. The battle would be royal, but I believe the tiger would win, purely because it would be so much more agile. ---- same with me the tiger would win
90% of experts agree that Sabre tooth cat's bite was noiwhere near tigers. Even though he got 7-9 inches of canines his deadly bite benonged in 60% to his powerful neck, not bite.They measured the lenght, weight and canines and the bite was lower than 800Ib. The Sabre tooth cat was slightly smaller than modern lion.Because of his short tail, like bobcat,and size of a lion,some people said that it was a hybrid ofa lion and bobcat.I think a tiger would win because smilodon's (Sabre tooth) canines was not a good thing, Actually he could hardly bite. Canines were too long for lower jaw.A single paw swipe would give tiger great advantage and then just a neck bite.
What cats are saber-toothed cats related to?
From one study made by Janczewski et al., the closest living relative determined by the genetic drift in two genes retrieved from various animals are:
1. Acinonyx jubatus (Cheetah - 0.8% - 2% difference)
2. Pardofelis marmorata (Marbled cat - 0.8% - 2.3% difference)
3. Panthera leo (African Lion - 1.5% - 2.3% difference)
Keep in mind that the two tested genes (named 12S rRNA and FLA-I) are not representitive of the feline population, but serves as a starting point to compare the difference cat species.
Are saber tooth tigers extinct?
yes Yes, the saber tooth tiger is extinct, the last of their kind became extinct thousands of years ago.
