Smilodon fatalis

Animals trapped in the asphalt seeps attracted predators and scavengers, which then became trapped themselves. This predator trap produced thousands of saber-toothed cat bones at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

Its canines were killing tools, not adaptations for pursuit, and were more fragile sideways than the compact teeth of modern cats. Smilodon likely restrained prey with powerful forelimbs before using a carefully directed bite to the throat or other soft tissue.

No. It belonged to the extinct machairodontine branch of the cat family and was not a close equivalent of the living genus Panthera that includes tigers.

It lived alongside large Pleistocene herbivores such as bison, camels, and horses, all potential prey. Isotopic and anatomical evidence suggests it hunted large mammals in habitats that included woodland or mixed cover.