Saber Toothed Tigers
By: Skylar Champlain
Basic Information
Saber Toothed tigers are Apex predators. The scientific name for them is "Smilodon", the nickname "Saber-tooth" is referring to the length of their canines. They've been extinct since 10,000 B.C. and are the largest species of tiger. They are carnivores, and they live in grasslands. They're actually not closely related to tigers, but are to cheetahs, lions, jaguars, and cougars. Their fossils have been found in Greenland, Iceland, North America, and South America.
Smilodon Populator
It was one of the largest Cats/Saber tooths
ever. Around about 2 million - 10,000 years ago. It weighs about 790 - 1,000 pounds and 55 inches in height at the shoulder. It has the most resemblance to a lion.
Smilodon Gracilis
They are the smallest and earliest species. They're 120 - 220 pounds and 3.28 - 3.94 inches in height. They were around 2.5 million - 500,000 years ago.
Smilodon Fatalis
It was in North America about 1.6 million years ago and became extinct around 10,000 years ago. It ranged in weight of 300 - 450 pounds, and 39 - 47 inches tall.
Canines
A Saber Toothed tigers teeth grow to at least 1 foot long. They are very fragile. Their jaws can open to 120 degrees. They kill their prey by biting into their necks.
Hunting
They hunt large animals such as: Bison, Camels, Ground Sloths, Horses, Mastodons, and Mammoths. They use stealth and ambush rather than speed to catch their prey, and hunt in packs. More than 2,000 of their skeletons have been found in Pleistocene tar pits(in California). http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/sabertooth/?ar_a=1
Mating
The Alpha of the pack would be the first to pick its mate but between the others there may have been some fighting over it.
Communication
Saber Toothed tigers were very social animals. They communicate by roaring.
Territory
Saber toothed tigers mark their territory as a pack, if there is already an "Alpha Male" then they would get to do everything first and get the best and do the least amount of work
How they became Extinct
Saber Toothed tigers became extinct in 10,000 B.C. They were around during the Ice Age, but when they went extinct so did 10 other species.
It's possible that humans hunted them to extinction, or it could be climate change or even its prey became scarce or extinct, and tigers wouldn't be able to adapt to smaller animals therefore leading to extinction.
De - Extinction
De - Extinction, also known as "Resurrection". In order to resurrect an animal, scientist would have to have some of that animals DNA, which would be hard because this animal went extinct in 10,000 b.c. After they get DNA scientist would have to find a "Host" for the Saber Toothed, possibly a Siberian Tiger or a Lion. This process is related to "cloning" but the difference is that this process is reconstructing an animal instead of duplicating it. I agree with this but, then I don't. I agree with it because I think it would be a cool experience to re-make an extinct animal and to see how it acts and to see how it looks in real life. I disagree with it because having this animal could be very harmful for our environment and could possibly make other species go extinct. They could start hunting us too. In order for many species to live, one must die.