"If you think about it, Smilodon fatalis likely left their paw prints on what is today Hollywood Boulevard long before Marilyn Monroe left her handprints at the Chinese Theater."

~ Z. Jack Tseng, Paleontologist of the American Museum of Natural History

There were three different species of Smilodon. Smilodon gracilis is the earliest-known and smallest member of the genus with the oldest fossils dating to 2,500,000 years ago. It likely descended from the sabertooth Megantereon, which colonized North America from Eurasia.

Smilodon gracilis reached South America about 1,000,000 years ago and gave rise to the largest Smilodon of all, Smilodon populator, a massive beast that approached 900 pounds and roamed east of the Andes, from Venezuela south to Patagonia.

The highest-profile species in the genus, Smilodon fatalis, is primarily recorded in North America, where it competed with giant short-faced bears, dire wolves, American lions, and other formidable fellow Pleistocene carnivores. Smilodon fatalis also strayed into western South America, separated by the Andes from its larger cousin, Smilodon populator.

Smilodon’s short, muscular legs, a stocky frame, and those enormous sabers lead many paleontologists to suppose these cats were ambush hunters of large mammals such as bison and juvenile mammoths and mastodons.

While scientists aren’t entirely sure of its exact predatory methods, a leading theory suggests Smilodon reached its quarry with a short burst of explosive speed and seized it with one paw over the shoulder or back and another twisting the victim’s head.

Such a grappling move would expose the prey’s throat, and a slash by Smilodon’s sabers could then efficiently cut the carotid artery and/or jugular.

Some biomechanical models suggest that Smilodon might have relied on those powerful neck muscles to sink their long teeth into prey. Both theories are quite different than using bite force to crush the windpipe as cats do today.