Smilodon (South America)

Smilodon populator (Smilodon populator Lund, 1842)

Order: Carnivora

Family: Felidae

Size: was around‭ ‬2.3 ‬meters long, 1,2‭ ‬meters tall at the shoulder. Weight estimated about 400 kg.

Time period: Throughout the Pleistocene,‭ ‬till the very early Holocene (South America).

Smilodon populator was the largest saber-toothed species that ever lived, some 20% larger than its North American relative, Smilodon fatalis. Smilodon populator lived throughout much of the continent and was the only saber-toothed cat identified in South America for many years. Potential prey of Smilodon preserved in the cave include the ground sloth, the horses, a camelid, a deer, and a litoptern, Macrauchenia.