Saber-toothed Cat Skull Replica

Description

Saber-toothed Cat Skull Replica measures 14×8.5×12 inches. Saber-toothed Cat Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. Made in USA. Smilodon fatalis is the scientific name. Skull is La Brea Color with base LA. County MNH licensed copy. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Please note that the skull base has been replaced with a wooden base. Our precise cat skull can be used as a teaching tool, museum skull exhibit, home decor skull, or office decor skull.

Smilodon fatalis is a genus of the extinct machairodont subfamily of the felids. Smilodon fatalis is one of the most famous prehistoric mammals, and is best known as the saber-toothed cat. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats.

Smilodon fatalis lived in the Americas during the Pleistocene epoch and was a large feline carnivore of Pleistocene North America.

Smilodon fatalis was around the size of modern lions, but was more robustly built. It had a reduced lumbar region, high scapula, short tail, and broad limbs with relatively short feet.

Smilodon fatalis is most famous for its relatively long canine teeth, which are the longest found in the saber-toothed cats, at about 11 in. long in the largest species, S. populator. The canines were slender and had fine serrations on the front and back side. The upper incisors were large, sharp, and slanted forwards. There was a gap between the incisors and molars of the mandible. The lower incisors were broad, recurved, and placed in a straight line across.

The skull was robustly proportioned and the muzzle was short and broad. The cheek bones were deep and widely arched, the sagittal crest was prominent, and the frontal region was slightly convex. The mandible had a flange on each side of the front.

Many of their food sources were large mammals such as elephants, rhinos, and other colossal herbivores of the era. The evolution of enlarged canines in Tertiary carnivores was a result of large mammals being the source of prey.

Sabre Toothed Cat Facts:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: †Machairodontinae
Tribe: †Smilodontini
Genus: †Smilodon
Type species: Smilodon populator
Conservation Status: Extinct

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