Today we hardly hear of Saber Tooth Tigers that lived thousands of years ago. It is an extinct species that were found during the Pleistocene era.

Fact 1 History Of Saber Tooth Tigers

Saber Tooth Tigers are the famous pre-historic animals that were found during the time when the woolly mammoth giants lived. These tigers are also known as Smilodon and they belonged to the Machairodents genus. It is believed that Saber Tooth Tigers were originally found in North as well as South America about ten thousand years ago and the largest mammal that lived during the era of the Pleistocene.

The Saber Tooth Tigers were first seen about 1.6 million years ago and became extinct nearly 11,000 years back. According to History, the time when the earth had become extremely cold and was known as Ice Age, these huge animals were seen roaming the mid-western parts of the U.S and also different areas of North and South America. During the end of the Ice Age, the earth was covered with ice sheets and glaciers filled up most of the lands. The sea water became frozen just like polar ice. These ferocious tigers roamed these cold areas during this time. It may be that they could bear the extreme cold like other mammals namely the mastodons, giant ground sloths and mammoths.

Fact 2 Origin Of Their Name And Reasons For Extinction

The skeletons that were recovered had huge canines and they jutted out from their mouth. . It is for these protruded teeth they were so named. The reason of their extinction is not known clearly. Some believe that due to major changes in the climate referred to as Ice Age they disappeared gradually. While some are of the opinion that human hunting was probably another reason why we lost these uncommon and special types of animals. All the information that we get today is from the fossils, mummified carcasses, and frozen forms and also from cave paintings that belonged to the Pleistocene era. However they were not related to the modern tigers directly but rather remotely.

Fact 3 Description

Saber Tooth Tigers had a strong and well-built body like the huge cats of today. Their heights were nearly 3 feet. They had short legs and the feet were about 4.5 feet long. The sharp claws helped them to tear the flesh of the animals they caught for food. The specific features of their claws prove that they were carnivores. The ears and tails were however quite short. They could open their jaws as wide as the snakes so that the canines did not come in the way while they had their food. The shoulders of the saber tooth tigers were bigger than their hips. The remains and fossils are not enough proofs to comment on the shades of these animals. Their strong legs, robust neck and mighty jaws gave them a unique appearance.

Fact 4 Specialties Of Their Teeth                     

Saber Teeth Tigers are well known for their two large protruding canines that can be spotted from a distance. These teeth were quite long but so fragile that they could break anytime. The tigers had to be very careful when having food, and also when hunting. Usually they used to sit and wait for the prey to come near so that they could pounce on them at one go. The upper canines were as long as 12 inches.

Fact 5 Habitat And Diet

Animals generally live in those areas where they can find their prey easily. Hence most of the saber tooth tigers lived in the grasslands and pine forests of America as they mostly ate herbivores like deer, antelopes, camels and tapirs.