| Smilodontini Temporal range: Middle Miocene–Late Pleistocene |
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|---|---|
| Smilodon californicus fossil at the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | Machairodontinae |
| Tribe: | Smilodontini |
| Genera | |
Smilodontini is an extinct tribe of "saber-toothed cats", contained within the Machairodontinae subfamily of the Felidae endemic to South America, North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa living during the Miocene to Pleistocene from 10.3 mya—11,000 years ago, existing for approximately 10.289 million years.[1]
As the name suggests, the famous genus of Smilodon is part of this group, but there are also two other distinct genera in Smilodontini. This tribe came into being about the genus Paramachairodus and only became extinct 10,000 years ago with Smilodon. Various species of Smilodontini have lived in Africa, Eurasia, North America and South America. All of these are dirk-toothed cats, meaning that they have long narrow upper canines and stocky, well muscled proportions.