File:Smilodon californicus saber-toothed tiger (Upper Pleistocene; California, USA) (15256629269).jpg

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Smilodon californicus Bovard, 1907 saber-toothed tiger skull from the Pleistocene of California, USA (public display, Dakota Dinosaur Museum, Dickinson, North Dakota, USA).

This is the famous, fearsome-looking saber-toothed tiger, Smilodon. Several fossil cats are known with hyper-enlarged canine teeth. These fangs helped the cats bring down large prey animals. Smilodon is known from the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene of the Americas. An especially prolific locality for Smilodon fossils is the La Brea Tar Pits of California’s Los Angeles Basin.

This is Smilodon californicus, which some paleontologists consider to be a subspecies of Smilodon fatalis.

Classification: Animalia, Vertebrata, Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae

Stratigraphy: La Brea Asphalt, Upper Pleistocene

Locality: Rancho La Brea tar pits, Los Angeles, California, USA

By the way, some will insist that the traditional term "saber-toothed tiger" is incorrect. Common names do not have scientific significance - they never have. I would recommend that people "chill" when it comes to common names. As an example, many do not call starfish "starfish" anymore, the logic being that they are not fish (which is true). Their common name is now frequently "seastars". Well, they aren't stars, either. "Starfish" is fine - no one thinks they are fish.
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Source Smilodon californicus saber-toothed tiger (Upper Pleistocene; California, USA)
Author James St. John

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This image was originally posted to Flickr by jsj1771 at https://www.flickr.com/photos/47445767@N05/15256629269. It was reviewed on 6 May 2015 by FlickreviewR and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

6 May 2015

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