ExtinctZoo - All 5 Types Of Sabertooths Explained

Episode Date: September 27, 2025

Step aside Vampires, your teeth are no match for the sabertoothed...cats. But did you know the cats weren't the only ones to evolve saber-teeth? Nor were they even the first...

Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. At First Citizens Bank, we roll with your goals because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for Citizens Bank. Own it all. Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming,

Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club Serrano members can earn dignity, instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29th. Don't pass go and own it all, only at Yamava, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Details

at Yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. If you take a look around, you'll probably notice that in many cases, things are pretty much the same-old, same-old, when it comes to the animal kingdom. And what I mean by that is, for example, legs aren't really uncommon among animals.

And if you hear that a newly discovered species has them, you wouldn't exactly be surprised. Same thing goes for five digits, eyeballs, a forked tongue, etc., etc. Not super exciting. But, if we one day stumble upon an animal that, let's say, has, oh, I don't know, saber teeth, then suddenly you're going to be interested, because that's one of the much rare traits, and frankly, cooler ones as well, as I'm sure you all have heard of the saber-toothed tiger, which is in reality the not so scientifically accurate name for the Smilodon,

who was shocker, not a tiger, but very much an icon of the Ice Age. But here's the thing that a lot of people forget. The Smilodon was ultimately just one member of an entire family of saber-toothed predators, who themselves were also not the only ones to evolve these remarkable teeth. In fact, they weren't even the first ones, far from it, actually. As over the ages, paleontologists have identified multiple instances where a group of animals have, quote-unquote, unlocked, saber-teeth. But before we go any further, I perhaps should first explain what a saber-tooth exactly is.

As you may see an image like this one and start to believe that we are a start to believe that we are surrounded by them, when in reality, lions actually don't count, and neither do any other living animals for that matter. As to qualify as a saber tooth, your canines have to protrude out of your mouth. Sorry, vampires. And now you may be thinking, okay, hold up now, what about walruses or musk deer? Because clearly their chompers do stick out like sore thumbs. And yet again, neither make the cut, as their canines are considered tusks, not saber teeth,

with the important distinction being that tusks are teeth and no longer function as, well, teeth, serving instead another purpose, such as foraging, maneuvering objects, fighting, or perhaps simply to put on a good show. Additionally, the two are not considered predators, and this is important as Sabretooth is a term usually reserved strictly for hunters, and even more strictly, land-based ones. Okay, so with these nuances aside, we arrive to the juicy question, which is just how many times the Sabretooth predator has evolved. Well, at least five, according to the fossil record. In the first and since we're aware of, happened further back in time than you might expect, as it occurred in a moment when dinosaurs were still a pipe dream. And this was the Middle Permian. This bygone era

played out some 272 million years ago, when the supercontinent Pangaea still existed, and ran straight down the world, at least if you were looking at a map. Within its vast lands, you would have found a myriad of strange yet fascinating life, including the top dogs of the era, the dinosaurians, a group of large-bodied therapsids that could be predators, herbivores, omnivores, and so forth. They had enjoyed a reign that had begun during their early Permian, but were now finding themselves in somewhat of a pickle, as Pangaea was undergoing immense change, with the climate slowly becoming drier, transforming many environments into new ones. And this boated poorly for the dynosophalians, who struggled to adapt.

But the changing winds also created opportunities for a bunch of newcomers that all wanted a shot at the crown. And amongst these newcomers was a very peculiar group. unlike anything seen before. And this was the first known saber-toothes, the Gorgonopsians. Now, taking a look at one, you may be thinking that you're looking at some sort of feline prototype, or at least a close relative, but you're not, and not even close to it, as these things aren't even mammals. Shocking, am I right?

In truth, the first saber-teethes were like the dinosaur phallians, ancient therapsids, and more specifically non-mammalian-formed theropsids, who were more related to mammals than reptiles, but officially were neither, and had descended from an ancient, Pelicosaur. In general, these guys weren't all that special or unique, possessing low-down narrow, yet muscular bodies, four limbs, and a long slender skull. So nothing too crazy for the time. Yet, of course, within these schools was the true magic sauce, their supersized teeth, which came in the form of elongated, razor-sharp upper canines that could be just as long as the exposed teeth of a T-Rex, you know, was pretty big. And just like all matters of evolution,

it's believed that these teeth slowly evolved through random genetic variations, which in this case provided a survival advantage in their environment, and thus was favored by natural selection, leading to saber-teeth genes being accumulated and expressed over generations. Or more simply put, gorgans got them because they're exceedingly great at puncturing thick hides and piercing deep into flesh, a perfect tool for Permian Pangaea, where loads of hardened parereptiles roam the lands, some of which grew to sizes in excess of one ton. And with these potent chombers, the gorgons were able to take down these guys with ease, along with a host of other animals. And they might have done so in a very young.

unique fashion. You see, Gorgans had reptilian like jaws and teeth, which indicated that they weren't the most accurate bunch when it came to bite placement, and thus they might have relied on a bite-in-retreat tactic, ambushing and unsuspecting prey, giving it a good old bite somewhere, and then backing off while to watch the life drain out of it, delivering additional bites if needed, until the poor creature was weak enough where upon a finishing blow could be delivered. And clearly, whatever tactic these guys had worked wonders for them, as very rapidly they spread throughout nearly all of panchea and became one of the most dominant and abundant predators on the continent. And when you combine abundance with domination, you end up getting a whole lot of

gorgons, who widely varied, mainly when it came to body proportions. As besides this, they were quite similar, and we ended up getting gorgonopsids that could have been your pet, a bit teeny tiny a lapasaurus, while others were much more likely to make you their pet, with many reaching large feline to bear-like proportions. With the king of the saber teeth back then, having been the Inostranssavia, the largest known member, which measured over three, 3.5 meters or 11.5 feet in length and weighed 770 pounds or 350 kilos, which just as a fun fact is equivalent to the largest black bear ever recorded in the state of New Jersey. So in other words, the Gorgons were absolutely thriving and adapted to numerous environments

across the supercontinent, including air deserts, cold steps, coastal plains, conifer forests, and everything in between. Unfortunately though, the world was apparently not too keen on seeing just how far the fur of saber-teethes could go. As not even 25 million years into their existence, the Gorgonopsids were hit by an extinction event. In not just any old extinction event, but literally the worst one of all time, the Permian Triassic extinction event. It arrived in the form of massive volcanic eruptions that slowly turned the world into a literal hell, causing frequent forest fires, an absurd increase in temperature, acid rain, and intense irradiation among other effects, that ultimately proved too much for the Gorgonopsids, and thus leading to a saber-tooth hiatus, if you will.

But if you're a Permian connoisseur, you may be reaching for that dislike button, as you probably think I've forgotten that Gorgons weren't the only saber-teethyth to evolve at this time, as you had other groups like the Therosephalians and Antiosauridae, who were filled with their own killers that in some cases did possess in large canines, and could become even greater in size than Gorgonopsids. But here's the thing. I only mention them now, as they don't actually make the cut for being considered true saber-tooth predators. Now, in a couple of cases, like the Therosephalian Moscarinus,

They do come awfully close, but still no cigar. And for a few pretty nuanced reasons. But to dumb things down, it's basically because, A, their teeth were not blade enough like and too circular, and B, they're missing some adaptations that are generally considered essential to the Sabretooth package. For example, a massive gap, Pacific jaw joint adaptation, and so forth. So basically, we're not considering them this time around. And with that aside, after the extinction of the Gorgonopsids, the Earth entered a Sabretooth

cold spell that lasted for a long time, a very long time. with no known saber-tooth groups even popping up during the Mesozoic. And this is a bit surprising seeing that the Mesozoic lasted for, you know, nearly 200 million years, and gave rise to things like dinosaurs who were absolutely mental, and a bunch of other crazy types of life. So, you would think that Sabretoothed predators popped up at least once. But alas, this evolutionary trait was a no-show, and it wouldn't show its face again until the Cenozoic,

which is sometimes referred to as the age of mammals, which is a bit fitting, seeing how the second instance of saber teeth involved yours, Truly, not me, but a mammal. But don't get too excited, because I am not talking about saber-toothed cats just yet. Rather, an ancient group that most people have never even heard of, and in my opinion takes the cake for the least well-known group in this video. And that's the, Macairoidene, meaning dagger-like. These guys first started popping up in the fossil record some 52 million years ago, during

the Middle Eocene. And they seem to have been quite an exclusive group, because as of now, only three different genera are known of. Apatelurus, Diego Aelarus, and McHeroides. The first mentioned genus, Apatelurus, actually translates to false cat, and that's because this family looked like, well, cats, having long tails, slender bodies, and superficially similar features. But it was no cat, nor were they even apart at the Piloidia.

Instead, they belonged to their very own family, the Oxi Anidae, who were placental mammals like us, but far more ancient, and were one of their earlier groups to arise following the extinction of dinosaurs. All of them were carnivorous, but it was just the Mac Aroydonae that leaned into the hyper-sized canines and had a knack for fluvial and floodplain environments, which were warm and humid, with the three genera being found throughout North America and Asia. Within these ecosystems, they did tend to be plentiful, but there were by no means the largest fries around, with other bigger predators being present.

And overall, the Machaeroidane didn't get any larger than small dogs, with the heaviest species being about the size of a golden retriever. Endorable. However, before you get too googly-eyed, I want you to try to try to try to be a little bit of to picture a golden retriever viciously mauling and taking down a rhino or horse. Kind of hard to see, right? And yet, the mychiroidine may have been doing this on the regular, considering that their saber teeth were officially designed to punch holes through lots of flesh, and rhinos plus

horses were amongst the most common animals at the time. It's another good sign that they were giant slayers was the presence of absurdly powerful forelimbs relative to their size, which would have come in handy for pinning animals much larger than themselves. But sadly, these adaptations proved futile for the the Macerodenae, as unbeknownst to them, a challenger was lurking in the background, that would eventually dethrone and out-compete them. And ironically, it was none other than another fellow saber-tooth, the Nimravidei.

And despite this marking the first known time the two saber-tooth predators lived at once, the two groups were not closely related, with the Nimravids having separately evolved their saber-teeth about 41 million years ago. Additionally, while both were mammals, the Nimravids didn't even belong to the same order, and instead hailed from a group that might sound a bit familiar, the philiformia, which still exists to this day and consists of cat-like carnivorance, cats included. But let me be clear, these lot were not kitties, just more closely related, as the two's ancestors shared a common ancestor from whom they diverged from about 50 million years ago,

not long after the canoformia-philiformia split. And ultimately, cats would end up waiting a bit longer for their very own saber teeth, while the Nimravids on the other hand quickly evolved theirs. But what exactly gave them an edge over the already existing macrhodo? Well, some of it had to do with the saber teeth themselves, if not all are made equal, apparently. In the case of the macheroidenay, theirs were more primitive and rudimentary, possessing minimal bracing support, shorter flanges which protect the teeth, and less adaptations for actually cutting once contact with prey was made.

Meanwhile, the Nimravids had much more specialized canines that were better protected and reinforced, allowing them to make deeper, more powerful bites on tougher heights. Additionally, the jaws of the Nimravids allowed for relatively speaking larger gapes while biting, which helped them easily puncture and destroy vital organs. And then as if they needed any more advantages, they also tended to be larger and more muscular. But with all this said, their real kicker was actually their adaptations for locomotion, as Nimravids had broad locomotor diversity, with many being well adapted for running, while the McKay-Roidenay were typically better climbers.

And usually being a good climber versus a runner is no biggie, as they allow animal to occupy different niches. But during the middle Eocene, the world experienced a cooling and drying trend, led to many lush forests transforming into scrub and open woodlands, great for the Numeravids and not much for the Mekhirodenae. And within a short amount of time, they were able to expand across North America, Africa, and Eurasia, where they became some of the most highly successful predators. And thanks to a bit of luck, they happened to appear during a more stable time in Earth's history, at least when compared to the Gorgonopsids or the Maki-Rordinae,

which along with their range meant one thing, diversification, lots, and the and lots of it, with at least three different sub-families having developed over time. The Nimravinae, Toploofonene, and the Barbara Ophelanay, which actually at one point was considered an entirely separate saber-tooth group, but it is now generally classed under the Nimravids. And across the three, you could find just about any kind of saber-tooth imaginable. The teeth especially differed, coming in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on the species, with the few even growing saber teeth that were just about as long as their entire skulls.

Interestingly, in these species of the mega-canines, we also tended to see more cat-like traits, with many, like the Corosylarus, having an uncanny resemblance to the saber-toothed cats. Hence why the Nymravids in general are known as the fall saber-toothed cats. Who would have thunk? And they could be quite sizey like the latter too, with the largest-identified genus, the Barbarophilus, being capable of reaching 328 kilograms or 723 pounds, akin to the size of a large lion. So it should come as no surprise to hear that the heftier genera were usually apex predators, very much capable of taking down megafaunal herbivores. Yet, many of the smaller guys were top predators as well,

and across the board you could find MRAVids that were jaguar, leopard, cheetah, and even bobcat sized like the nano-smilus. In this immense range you got within Mravids, via size, dentition, etc., ultimately allowed them to do many things. They'd become ambush hunters, social killers, solitary loners, or utilize chase and pursuit tactics, all helping them get pretty successful. And in fact, the degree of their success actually proved problematic for other carnivorous groups, who struggled to compete with their saber teeth and specialization. However, there was one place that others needed not to worry about them, South America, where the Nimravids were surprisingly absent.

And this proved monumental, as in this region you'd define the order of carnivorous mammals, Sparacadanta. Now these weren't placental mammals, instead being metatheriums, making them more related to modern marsupials. And with no Nimravids around spoiling the fun, they were able to evolve uninterrupted, which eventually led to their own hypercanines, as supposedly we mammals have an act for them. And by 20 million years ago, you can now find a new family of sparasidants in South America,

the Thylacos Miliday, who were the fourth instance of saber-tooth predators thanks to convergent evolution. And boy, oh boy, were they an odd bunch, arguably being the most easily identifiable group. And this was mainly due to their extreme flange-like outgrowths that were designed to protect their teeth, but gave them awfully recognizable faces. Additionally, what made them odd for a saber-tooth predator was that their canines would grow continuously throughout their lives, and were accompanied by unspecialized carnaceo molars, quite an unusual trait. However, unspecialized doesn't mean non-lethal. As thylacosimilids, were hella deadly, and their canines are generally defined as being

smooth-edged and remarkably sharp at the tips, seeing that the continuous growth helped them avoid the pitfalls of wear and tear. And you would think sharpness, coupled with the giant nature of their teeth, meant one powerful bite, but the thylacosimilids had a pretty wimpy bite in reality, at least as far as bite force goes. evidenced by the progressive reduction in their masseter and temporal muscles. And in fact, it's possible that they're biting softer than we do. Yeah.

And thus, this group evolved an interesting hunting style, wherein they would utilize ambushes to pin down animals and then use their powerful bodies and semi-opposable thumbs to manipulate their prey in precise ways to align their saber teeth perfectly with vulnerable areas of the body, such as the neck, and thus allowing them to deliver fatal bites with little resistance. And it might seem counterintuitive to rely on a tactic that essentially requires you to hit a bullseye, so to speak.

But it worked pretty well for the thylac of smilets. It became very well established in South America, being found predominantly in savannah and sparsely forested areas, where they also face less competition from the co-existing giant-tererbirds, and almost equally large birds of prey. So yes, no nymravids, but they still, of course, had some rivalry. And it's partially because of the presence of these competing giants that this group did not achieve the same sizes seen in other saber-tooth groups.

As on average, they weighed no more than a beagle, And of all the genera known, the largest, thylacosimilus, was still no larger than a jaguar. And recent studies even suggest that this comparison could be way off, with a 2024 paper stating a max size of just 41 kilos or 90 pounds. So imagine a large-sized dog, but just a bit more cant-like and with giant saber teeth. May it seem a tad underwhelming, but this was all the group needed, and they would persist for millions of years, blissly unaware, presumably, that they were part of a duo of co-existing saber-toots. However, if you can believe it or not, the Mervid thylokosimilat combo would soon become a trifecta for a saber-teeth or brewing once more.

And yes is finally what you've been waiting for, as I am now talking about the saber-tooth cats, which scientifically referred to as macarodontane. Based on mitochondrial DNA, it is currently believed this family split from the ancestors of living cats around some 20 million years ago and originated during the middle myocene within Europe before quickly moving on to Africa, and a bit different from the rest, the saber-toothed cats were pretty large from the get-go, evident by their earliest known genus myama chyridus, which lived predominantly in Turkey and was over 100 kilograms or 220 pounds, similar to the weight of a lioness.

Its canines were also already elongated, and sported small, yet distinct serrations, which in conjunction to its powerful body allowed it to specialize in taking down seriously large game. And this already put it ahead of most other saber-toothed predators, but then on top of this, being of Phelid, meant that it also possessed excellent nocturnal vision, a key, cute hearing, tactile whiskers, an extreme gape, and stealthy digit-trade locomotion, making it quite a package. And this new family found instant success, rapidly spreading throughout the world and achieving a level of diversity that competed with that of the numravids. Primarily, we saw two kinds of saber-toothed cats evolve over time, those categorized as Dirktooth and those categorized

as scimitar tooth, with the former housing genera such as the Megantarian and the most well-known saber-toothed ever, the Smilodon, while the scimitar group was home to the likes of the homoetherium, Macyridus and Imravus, who know was not an Mravid. Both these groups were efficient killing machines, but each had their own special design. The Dirk tooth cast tended to have much longer, slender canines and stockier bodies, while the Cimitar cat's saber teeth were often shorter, yet broad, and they typically had more grassile builds with longer legs. And as a result, the Dirk tooth genera tended to be worse runners who behaved more as ambushed predators in closed environments, whereas the cimitars were cursorial, taking down prey in open areas. However,

However, I will say that these were just the trends, not the end-all-be-all rules. But of course, seeing that the dark tooth has stock your bodies, it was also them who ended up achieving bigger sizes, with the species malad on Populitor, arguably being the largest of them all, having achieved a weight to 470 kilos or 1,040 pounds. So think polar bear and then just strap some sabres to its mouth, not exactly a pretty sight. And though smaller, the Cemetery cats could also still be giant, with the homotherium cracking 200 kilograms or 440 pounds.

In other words, comparable to a lion, and it would have functioned as an apex predator within its homelands. And frankly, these cats were just big all around, with no species being smaller than a lynx, who aren't exactly giants, but definitely no kitties. Ironically though, the saber-toothed cats did do one thing like a kitten, and that was biting. As in general, these guys had weaker bites due to the construction of their skulls, which made them susceptible to stress breaks, and the Smilodon was probably biting just one-third of the power of the lion.

To counter this issue though, it's thought they employed tactics similar to what was seen in our friends, the thylacosimilets, targeting the soft necks their victims, and specifically would use bites backed by their powerful necks to sever major arteries, veins, and other structures which are important within the neck, and thus ensuring a very swift end. There's also been discussion as to if these cats utilize the bite and retreat tactic, or if they would straight up wrestle their future food throughout the entire ordeal. But whatever the case, their method worked, and we know this for sure, seeing that this family left behind hordes of evidence, including puncture marks upon the skulls of glyphtheriums,

hundreds of mammoth carcasses, and isotopic data suggesting that other large animals, such as horses, rhino, and more, were regular parts of their diets. In other words, if you were big, they had you in their sights. You might have had more eyeballs fixed in your throat than what you would get with other saber-tooth, seeing them at chirodons showed signs of being gregarious in a few cases. In other words, they might have roamed as a unit. Specifically, within the homotherium, a genetic analysis found the positive selection of genes such as SCTR, which is linked to socialness and may suggest gregarious behavior. And separately, the Ice Age-dated La Brea Tarpit in California shows further indirect evidence. As a common victim in this gooey trap was a Smilodon,

and the frequency in which they show up here is akin to what you would expect from a social creature, not a solitary one. And this was backed by a 2009 study that elected living social cats, like lions, and found their ratios match those of the Smilodons at La Brea. a good sign that social saber-toothes were a thing. Yet still, nothing is 100% certain. What is certain, though, was that saber-tooth cats were highly successful, and arguably the most successful saber-tooths ever, as they achieved the near-global range,

only being absent in just two continents, Australia and Antarctica, for pretty apparent reasons. Everywhere else, they would go into exist for millions of years, while almost always being the top predators, and sometimes also living side-by-side with other co-existing saber-toots. As remember, the Nimravids and Thalak of Smilids were still kicking. And though direct evidence for interactions are not known of, it is believed that in areas where coexistence occurred,

competition and violent conflicts were pretty much bound to happen. And truthfully, my money would have been on the cats. However, when you look around, it does not take a genius to realize that they, nor the other two, ended up standing against the test of time, which does make one wonder how we seemingly went from three separate groups of saber-toothes to zilch. And the answer might have been an ironic one. the teeth themselves. As some speculate that given how specialized they are, they are great during times of stability, but then cause quite a bit of hardship when rapid changes occur, as it

makes adapting within a short time frame overtly difficult. But just in case, let's go through each group's extinction one by one. The first of the three to fall were, surprisingly, the Nimravids, who disappeared roughly seven million years ago during the late Miocene. At the time, only one subfamily remained, the Barbaro Phelanai. And though a concrete reason for the demise has not been established, it's often been cited that competition with the saber-toothed cats probably contributed to their extinction, along with the expansion of grasslands and the associated funnel turnover that occurred. The two surviving saber-teeths actually did pretty well in the face of these changes,

but ultimately would not keep the Nimravids waiting too long, with the next to fall in their footsteps being the thylok of Smilitz, who disappeared just four million years after the Nimravids during the late Pleiocene. Originally, it was thought that the Sabretooth cats were again to blame, as they did invade South America around the same. the same time as the thylacosmilds extinction, entering through the Great American Interchange, and now competing the smaller, more niche thylacosmilids. However, more recent and accurate dating techniques actually found that the group was already gone by the time of the cat's arrival, and thus this idea was thrown out, with a now more accepted reasoning being that changes

in the climate and a shift in flora due to the interchange was what ultimately doomed this group, as they were hyper-specialized for their environments and could not adapt on more tempered flora partially replaced the tropical ones. In such, with their demise, only the same, they were only one was left, the saber-toothed cats. But just because they now alone represented the saber teeth does not mean things were going great for them either. Instead, we actually see a decline in their diversity that continued all the way to the late Pleistocene, from which just too genera are known of, the homotherium and Smilodon.

And both of them were severely restricted in range at the time, only being found in the Americas at this point. And that wouldn't last either. We don't know exactly when the last Sabretooth cats died, but as of now it does seem like the Smilodon held on the longest. with the youngest specimens possibly dating to just 8,200 years ago, at which time the first known city on Earth was already over a thousand years old. And for a long time, it was actually thought that we only had ourselves to think for the current lack of saber-toothes,

with the idea being that we out-competed and killed off this Miladon. However, now it is more thought of that a variety of factors is what really did them in, with a big one being the extinction of other megafaunal animals, as it severely reduced the size of their menu, and along with climate change in the presence of humans, the Smilodon finally vanished, and thus bringing the end to the Sabretooth trifecta, as well as representing the latest instance of Sabretooths. But given just how many times Sabretoothed popped up during the Cenozoic,

I wouldn't put it past evolution to cook up some new oddities in the coming years. Though to be honest, I doubt any of us will be around long enough to see it. Thanks for watching, and until next time, on Extinct Zoo. Ryan Reynolds here for MintMobil. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same premium wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities, so do like I did and have one of your assistants assistants assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. Up front payment of $45 for three month plan

equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com.