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The terms 'saber-toothed cat' and 'saber-toothed tiger' describe numerous species, mainly in the families Felidae, Hyaenodontidae, and Nimravidae, but also including two marsupial families, that lived during various parts of the Cenozoic and evolved their saber-toothed characteristics entirely independently. The saber-tooth morphology is an excellent example of convergent evolution as it occurred repeatedly and independently in at least four distinct mammalian groups. They are most known for having teeth which were in some species up to 20 cm long, and extended down from the mouth even when closed. Saber-tooth cats were generally more robust than today's cats and were quite bear-like in build.
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Contents

Saber-tooth genera

Saber-tooth evolutionary tree

External links

Saber-tooth genera

Saber-toothed cats became extinct thousands of years ago. The genera of saber-toothed cats, along with the regions and time periods where they have been found, is summarized here:

'Genus Name'	'Number of Species'	'Times'	'Regions'
''Smilodon''	6	2.5 MYA to 8,000 YA	North and South America
''Hoplophoneus''	5	33.7 MYA to 23.8 MYA	North and South America
''Eusmilis ''	3	30.5 MYA to 28 MYA	Europe, North America, South America
''Dinictis''	4	40 MYA to 25 MYA	North America
''Dinaelurus''	1	?	North America
''Dinailurictis''	1	?	?
''Eofelis''	1	?	?
''Nimravidus'' ''(Nimravides)''	2	?	?
''Nimravus'' ''(Nimravinus)''	6	33.5 MYA to 20 MYA	Europe and North America
''Nimraviscus''	1	?	?
''Pogonodon''	2	15 MYA to 6 MYA	Europe and North America
''Quercylurus''	1	?	?
''Archaelurus''	1	?	?
''Aelurogale'' (Ailurictis)	1	?	?
''Ictidailurus''	1	?	?
''Albanosmilus''	3	18 MYA to 3 MYA	Africa and Eurasia
''Afrosmilus''	1	25 MYA to 10 MYA	Africa
''Barbourofelis''	7	15 MYA to 3 MYA	Africa and Eurasia
''Ginsburgsmilus''	1	23 MYA to 10 MYA	Africa
''Prosansanosmilus''	2	18 MYA to 5 MYA	Africa and Eurasia
''Sansanosmilus ''	3	12 MYA to 3 MYA	Africa and Eurasia
''Syrtosmilus''	1	23 MYA to 8 MYA	Africa
''Vampyrictis''	1	15 MYA to 3 MYA	Africa and Eurasia
''Vishnusmilus''	1	?	?
''Homotherium''	10	3 MYA to 10,000 YA	Europe and Asia
''Thylacosmilus'' (marsupial)	2	10 MYA to 1.8 MYA	South America
''Metailurus''	9	15 MYA to 8 MYA	Eurasia
''Adelphailurus''	1	23 MYA to 5 MYA	Kansas (North America)
''Paramachairodus''	3	20-15 MYA to 9 MYA	Europe
''Machairodus'' (Ancestral to ''Homotherium'')	18	15 MYA to 2 MYA	Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America
''Megantereon''	8	3 MYA to 9,000 YA	Africa, Eurasia, and North America
''Dinofelis''	6	5 MYA to 1.5 MYA	Africa, Eurasia, North America
''Therailurus''	1	5 MYA to 2 MYA	Africa, Eurasia, North America
''Pontosmilus''	4	20 MYA to 9 MYA	Eurasia
''Xenosmilus'' (1 specimen)	1	1.7 MYA to 1 MYA	Central Florida (North America)
''Stenailurus''	1	(?)	(?)
''Dinobastis''	1	(?)	Asia
''Epimachairodus''	1	(?)	(?)
''Miomachairodus''	1	(?)	(?)
''Hemimachairodus''	1	(?)	(?)
''Ischyrosmilus''	1	(?)	(?)

Saber-tooth evolutionary tree

All saber-tooth mammals lived between 33.7 million and 9,000 years ago, but the evolutionary lines that lead to the various saber-tooth genera started to diverge much earlier.
The lineage that led to ''Thylacosmilus'' was the first to split off, in the late Cretaceous. It is a marsupial, and thus more closely related to kangaroos and opossums than the felines. The creodonts diverged next, and then the nimravids, before the blossoming of the truly feline saber-tooths.

★ Class Mammalia

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★ Subclass Marsupialia (diverged ? MYA, in the Cretaceous)

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★ Order Sparassodonta (an extinct group of marsupial carnivores)

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★ Family Borhyaenidae

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★ Family Thylacosmilidae

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★ ''Thylacosmilus''

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★ Subclass Placentalia

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★ Order Creodonta (diverged ? MYA, in the Paleocene)

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★ Family Hyaenodontidae

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★ ''Hyaenodon''

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★ ''Boualitomus''

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★ ''Laekitherium''

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★ ''Metapterodon''

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★ ''Triacodon''

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★ ''Parvagula''

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★ Order Carnivora

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★ Family Nimravidae (diverged from the feliforms 48–55 MYA, in the late Eocene)

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★ Subfamily Nimravinae (Dinictis)

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★ Subfamily Hoplophoninae

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★ Suborder Feliformia ('cat-like' carnivores)

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★ Family Barbourofelidae (sister taxa to Felidae)

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★ Family Felidae (true cats)

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★ Subfamily Machairodontinae (diverged ? MYA, in the ?)

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★ Tribe Homotheriini

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★ ''Homotherium''

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★ ''Machairodus''

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★ ''Xenosmilus''

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★ Tribe Metailurini

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★ ''Dinofelis''

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★ ''Metailurus''

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★ Tribe Smilodontini

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★ ''Megantereon''

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★ ''Paramachairodus''

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★ ''Smilodon''

External links

★ Extinct Cats Index

★ Illinois State Museum: Saber-toothed Cats

★ UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology: Saber-toothed Cats

★ Prehistoric cats and prehistoric cat-like creatures, from the Messybeast Cat Resource Archive.

★ Saber-toothed Cats in Cryptozoology

★ Prehistoric cats and cat-like creatures