Smilodon | ||||||||||||
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Scientific classification | ||||||||||||
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Smilodon ("knife tooth") is more commonly known as the sabertooth cat (or, formerly, sabertooth tiger). Smilodon lived approximately 3 million-10,000 years ago in North America and South America. It is the only known successor to Machairodus.
Three species of Smilodon are known to have existed:
Many Smilodon fossils have been unearthed at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, which is why it is the prehistoric cat researchers know the most about.