The sabre-tooth cat, an extinct member of the cat family (Felidae), was a meat-eating animal whose ancestors roamed the northern continents as early as late Eocene and early Oligocene times (approximately 40 to 35 million years ago). In Pleistocene time (1.8 million to 11,000 years ago), the sabre-tooth cat successfully "raided" South America where large hoofed animals were easy prey. In California, fossilized remains of the state fossil, Smilodon californicus, are found most abundantly at the fossil's type locality, the Rancho La Brea pits, in Los Angeles. Here the sabre-tooth cat, attracted by the struggling cries of other unfortunate creatures caught within the sticky pools of tar, sought its prey and also fell into the efficient trap.
In contract with typical living cats, the sabre-tooth had exceedingly long, dagger-like upper canine teeth used for stabbing and slicing. The lower canine teeth of the sabre-tooth cat were correspondingly reduced in size. At the front end of the lower jaw, there often was a flange that served as a guard for the large upper canines. As a result of the development of the large canines, the skull of the sabre-tooth cat is quite different from that of today's cats. Nasal openings were receded from the position seen in typical cat skulls and prominent bony ridges ran along the entire length of the hard palate. In the ear region, the mastoid process was powerfully developed for the attachment of muscles which pulled the head downward. The lower jaw of the sabre-tooth cat was constructed in such a way that it could swing to nearly a right angle when the mouth was opened in attack. Certain parts were, however, weakly constructed so that the biting strength of the lower jaw was not as great as it is in true cats.
The body and limbs of the sabre-tooth cat, though approximately the same size as the living African lion, were also slightly different from the typical lion or puma. In Smilodon californicus, the hind limbs were relatively light while the front limbs, rib basket, and breastbone were strong and powerful. The short lower segments of the limbs are an indication that the sabre-tooth cat was not a fleet-footed carnivore like the lion or tiger, but rather preyed on large slow-moving animals such as the elephant, mastodon, or ground sloth. The sabre-tooth cat probably gripped its prey with its powerful front limbs and, with its upper canine teeth and strong head and neck muscles, repeatedly stabbed a vulnerable spot on the victim's body or neck. Presumably, the backward position of the nasal openings allowed the sabre-tooth cat to breath with its head buried deep into the side of its victim. A strongly grooved gum covering the ridges of the hard palate may have aided in sucking blood.
The eventual extinction of the sabre-tooth cat may have been related to the decrease in larger animals upon which it preyed. There is some evidence that the mastodon was the favorite victim of the later sabre-tooth cat, including Smilodon californicus, because both persisted in North America only until the end of the Pleistocene. In Europe, however, both disappeared in the early Pleistocene.