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Monday 20 December 2010

Saber tooth cat (Smilodon)


 Smilodon were among the largest mammals ever to live; the heaviest specimens of this heavily built carnivore may have exceeded 500 kg (1,100 lb)
 A fully-grown Smilodon weighed approximately 55 to 470 kg (120 to 1,000 lb), depending on species. It had a short tail, powerful legs, muscular neck and long canines which it used to tear apart the windpipe of it’s prey. Smilodon was more robustly built than any modern cat. The only downfall of the Smilodon was that it can only run fast over short distances.

 A Smilodon recalls the shape of a hyena.



Its Fossils

         A Saber tooth cat skeleton has big stocky front legs but is still quite similar to that of a Hyena. Although thethe thing that makes it famous is the huge saber teeth in its mouth which were used to slice through the throat and windpipe of its prey.