What Might Happen If Saber-Toothed Tigers Lived Today?

Publish date: 2024-04-02

The most distinctive feature of the Smilodon fatalis or saber-toothed tiger were two serrated fangs that reached lengths of 15 centimeters or around 6 inches (via Prehistoric-Fauna). Compare that to the canine teeth of modern tigers at roughly 2 inches, according to the San Diego Zoo. All combined, the saber-toothed tiger, an ambush predator, was a formidable hunter, quick enough to take down fast-moving prey and powerful enough to attack other predators like a wolf, according to Prehistoric-Fauna.

Similar in size to the modern African lion, Smilodon fatalis may have also eaten bison, giant ground sloths, young mammoths, horses, and camels, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library. It's not known for certain how social the saber-toothed tiger might have been, as the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Library also explains, but what is known, these creatures were ambush predators and faced little competition for territory, and had adjusted to wide ranging habitats. More than a thousand saber-toothed tiger fossils have been found in the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

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