Portal:Paleontology/Natural world articles/112
Smilodon mya–10,000 years ago). The genus was named in 1842, based on fossils from Brazil. Three species are recognized today: S. gracilis, S. fatalis and S. populator.
Overall, Smilodon was more robustly built than any
canines
. Its jaw had a bigger gape than that of modern cats and its upper canines were slender and fragile, being adapted for precision killing. S. gracilis was the smallest species at 55 to 100 kg (120 to 220 lb) in weight. S. populator from South America is perhaps the largest known felid at 220 to 400 kg (490 to 880 lb) in weight and 120 cm (47 in) in height.
Smilodon probably lived in closed habitats such as forests and
megafauna disappeared, about 10,000 years ago. Its reliance on large animals has been proposed as the cause of its extinction, along with climate change and competition with other species, but the exact cause is unknown. (see more...
)