Evolution seems to have a preference for saber-toothed animals. The animals with thick canines that have roamed the Earth’s surface, waned and flourished again and again.

The most famous of these is the ferocious Ice Age saber-toothed tiger (Smilodon), a liger-like cat with big fangs that hunted horses and bisons across the Americas, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of saber-toothed animal history 260 million years ago.

Most of the time, paleontologists use the term “saber teeth” to describe carnivorous mammals, whose long & flat canines can pierce the bodies of other creatures.

But this description is not entirely accurate, because some of the most primitive herbivorous mammals are actually called saber-toothed animals, in which the fangs representing “saber-teeth” are not used to bite prey, but to fight each other. From this perspective, there are still some “saber-toothed” animals, such as male musk deer every mating season.

And in saber-toothed carnivores, there is more than one shape or arrangement of teeth at work. For example, Smilodon are usually divided into brachydon and curvilinedon tigers. Most brachydonts had long, fine-serrate fangs, while curvilineans had shorter canine teeth, so paleontologists thought that different tooth shapes might indicate different occlusal techniques.

These differences also reflect from the side that there are many kinds of saber-toothed animals, and here are eight kinds of saber-toothed creatures that have appeared on the Earth.

Anomodonts (Tiarajudens Eccentricus)

Anomodonts (Tiarajudens Eccentricus) is the oldest saber-toothed animal ever found and belongs to the group of herbivorous mammals. Around 260 million years ago, it was active in places like prehistoric Brazil.

Scientist have little awareness about the animal’s skeleton, except for a well-preserved skull that revealed long, flat canine teeth protruding from its upper jaw.

However, these shaped teeth were not as well suited to grinding or crushing food as the teeth of primitive mammals, so paleontologists believe that Anomodonts used their fangs as fighting tools like modern musk deer.

Surely, we once made one animatronic Lystrosaurus model, seem like above Anomodonts (Tiarajudens Eccentricus). The life size animatronic dinosaur restoration here.

Inostrancevia Africana

Of all the saber-toothed carnivores that have ever walked the earth, the Inostrancevia was the largest, reaching an adult size of 4.5m and weighing more than 270kg, about the size of an adult black bear. Although the earliest fossils of Inostrancevia were found in Russia, paleontologists found that the primitive mammals reached prehistoric South Africa, suggesting that they had crossed as far away as Eurasian continent in prehistoric times.

The new species, named Inostrancevia Africana, is similar in size to the species found in Russia and is likely a descendant of them. They crossed the Eurasian continent to the Karoo Desert of South Africa, probably because rapid climate change caused the rapid transformation and collapse of the original ecosystem, in search of enough prey in the future, can only continue to move further away.

Surely, we once built one animatronic Gorgonops model, seem like above Inostrancevia Africana. The full size animatronic dinosaur restoration here.

Uintatherium Anceps

While scientists don’t know much about this creature either, Uintatherium Anceps is surprisingly well known. The big herbivores lived in what is now the western United States about 38 million to 56 million years ago. The skull is easily recognizable, with three sets of protruding obtuse angles and a set of flat canine teeth.

Paleontologists have been puzzled by Uintatherium since the late 19th century. Because it’s so hard to define where it belongs, and it sparked a big fight between the two scientists.

To this day, the mammals have only a separate herbivore of their own, because in addition to their biology of large herbivores, the presence of saber teeth is difficult to avoid notice.

Diegoaeurus Vanvalkenburghae

It was about 42 million years ago that mammalian evolution really took off. In that world, the only dinosaurs left were birds, beasts got bigger and bigger, and mammals evolved into all shapes and sizes. Among them is Diegoaeurus Vanvalkenburghae, the oldest known carnivorous saber-toothed mammal.

Despite its cat-like appearance, Diegoaeurus is not a feline. The animal belongs to a still-mysterious group of carnivores called the macarodin, which flourished long before cats came along. The carnivore is about the size of a bobcat, but behaves in a civet way. Early in the age of mammals, predators like Diegoaeurus often fed on early primates.

Hoplophoneus Occidentalis

No other animal has saber teeth like cats. With the exception of Hoplophoneus, they were fierce predators like the ancestors of cats, even developing saber teeth millions of years before cats.

Hoplophoneus ranged in size from small to large, with the Hoplophoneus Occidentalis comparable in size to modern leopards. However, their skulls are different from those of leopards. The skulls of Hoplophoneus Occidentalis do not have the larger and rounder skull of felines, and they have evolved delicate bone flanges on the lower jaw, equivalent to a sheath with long canine teeth.

Barbourofelis Fricki

Barbourofelis Fricki lived in western North America about 7 million to 13 million years ago, sharing a type niche with the later smilodon, although it was not a feline. Barbourofelis Fricki may have been strong, bear-like lion, or a lion-like bear.

They Began to sweep across Eurasia and North America 10,000 years ago. Several Barbourofelis were only as big as leopards, but one late species, Barbourofelis fricki, grew up to 2 meters long and weighed nearly 200 kilograms, rivaling the pride of the saber-toothed felines, the “Deadly Smilodon,” which appeared more than 10 million years later.

Xenosmilus

In 1981, two amateur paleontologists discovered a new species of prehistoric cat in Florida, USA. After years of intensive research and the discovery of the new skull, renowned saber-tooth animals expert Professor Larry Martin and his colleagues finally identified it as a new genus in the saber-tooth tiger family, and in 2000 officially named the “Xenosmilus “.

They’re definitely not gentle with their food. Paleontologists speculate that Xenosmilus was able to bite off large chunks of meat from its prey, then stood back and waited quietly for the animal to die of blood loss and trauma before turning back.

It is believed that Xenosmilus may have gone extinct earlier than the other two species, because no fossils of it have been found in the late Pleistocene La Brea Tar Pits, and the existing records only cover the period from 1.7 million to 1 million years ago.

Smilodon Populator

Smilodon Populator is the most famous of all time, not even the Tyrannosaurus Rex in terms of fossil fame, and there is actually more than one species in the genus Smilodon.

Paleontologists have identified at least three species, including the Smilodon and the relatively small Smilodon and the dangerous sabertooth, of which the proportions of the largest sabertooth suggest that it was an excellent ambush hunter, using its powerful front claws to wrestl prey to the ground and then bite it on the throat, severing the windpipe and blood vessels in major parts.

We also manufactured over ten animatronic Smilodon (sabertooth tiger) models, please overview here.