Smilodon Teeth  (’Sabertooth Tiger’)

Extinct: Between 3M and 10,000 years ago.

These teeth were sculptured from accurate studies of the specimens within the Zoology and the Sedgewick Museums, Cambridge.

They have been cast in Glass using the lost-wax process and hand-ground & polished. They are spaced on their stands as they would have been on the skull.

Smilodon were about the same size as a full grown lion of today, but very different. The Sabertooth had very short extremely strong legs built for strength not speed. It was probably an ambush hunter, and would have attacked its prey from a hiding place, choosing larger animals. Scientists have been debating the use of the teeth, and why they had grown in this way.

Recent studies show that despite the size of its teeth, he actually had a relatively weak bite. The Ancient cat’s narrow jaw means it could only bite only at a third of the strength of a modern lion. But its powerful body and large claws meant it was able to wrestle its victim to the ground and sink its canines into the victim’s throat. By contrast, today’s Lions suffocate their prey maintaining a bite for several minutes.

Smilodon became extinct as a result of the environmental changes after the last ice age..