Machairodontinae
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Machairodontinae is an extinct subfamily of carnivoran mammals of the cat family Felidae, representing the earliest diverging major branch of the family.
Machairodontinae
Undersides of the skulls of two Smilodon, the skull on the left being in the process of replacing the canines
Domestic cat skull, at maximum gape (80°)
Smilodon fatalis skull, at maximum gape (128°)
Smilodon
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Smilodon is a genus of extinct felids. It is one of the best-known saber-toothed predators and prehistoric mammals. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to th
Machairodontinae
…the extinct predators commonly known as "saber-toothed cats", including those with greatly elongated upper maxillary canines, such as the famed genus Smilodon and Megantereon, though the degree of elongation was variable, and in some machairodontines like Dinofelis the length of the upper canines was much…
Smilodon populator fossil, Tellus Science Museum 1
1869 lithograph of the holotype molar and maxilla fragment of S. fatalis
Comparison between the skulls of the machairodonts Homotherium, Megantereon, and Smilodon, by Mauricio Antón
S. fatalis skeleton at the US National Museum of Natural History