Smilodon

Smilodon populator
Biological information
Time period :	Pleistocene epoch
Lifestyle :	Carnivore
In the series
Brought back :	2; male and female
Appearances :	Saving the Sabretooth The Bug House Supercroc

Smilodon are giant sabre-toothed cats from the Pleistocene period recognized for their large sabre teeth. These

teeth are enlarged upper canines, though the narrator of Prehistoric Park incorrectly refers to them as enlarged incisors. The genus includes the well-known North American species Smilodon fatalis, found in large numbers in the La Brea tar pits, but those in Prehistoric Park are the largest species, S. populator, from South America. Saber-Tooth Cats are the most famous of all prehistoric felines.

Episode FourEdit

Nigel goes in search of Smilodon for the park, being fascinated by big cats since he was a boy. He arrives in prehistoric South America, a few MYA (million years ago). His first glimpse of a Smilodon is when he sees a female stalking a Toxodon. The female kills the Toxodon and the whole pride feasts upon it. When the pride leaves, a Terror Bird emerges. Before it can start to eat, a lone male Smilodon attacks, but the Terror Bird esapes just in time.

Nigel, determined to get the Terror Bird for the park, steals a piece of meat and

ties it to the back of his truck. Enticed, the Terror Bird goes for the food. Nigel drives away, the meat bumping along behind and the Bird on his heels. He successfully gets him through the portal. After he catches the animal he plans his next trip to South America, this time when Smilodon was on its last legs.

He is taking Saba Douglas- Hamilton with him, who is an expert on big cats. It's now 10,000 B.C. They find nothing for a worrying amount of time but Nigel had implanted a camera nearby. When Nigel inspects the footage, a young male appears, and he is delighted. But earlier Saba found a cub, and they will go to it to see if the mother has returned. They see the cub and mother - but the cub is very weak. In the distance they know there is the injured male, and decide to dart him first before darting the female and cub.

They manage to dart and escape the male. They put him on the truck and head back. But when they come, it's too late. The cub has died, and the mother is in poor condition. They take the prehistoric cats back to the park, and the female is named Sabrina.

In The Bug House, Sabrina and the young male Smilodon have fully recovered. Suzanne wants to proceed in getting them to breed, but Sabrina shows a lot of aggression towards the young male. Later in the episode, Suzanne and other crew members construct climbing frames for the Smilodon pair. She believes this

technique called "Environment enrichment" will get Sabrina and the young male Smilodon more comfortable with one another. One day later, Suzanne checks up on the Smilodon with their improved enclosures, with great results. Sabrina is much happier with the climbing frames, and is not ignoring the young male. Later in the episode, Suzanne opens the barrier separating the two halves of the enclosure. While Sabrina and the young male do swat at each other a little bit, the two cats do not lash out.

In Supercroc, it is revealed that Sabrina is still reproductively active, as she has given birth to two cubs. Unfortunately however, Sabrina was having difficulty trying to produce milk for them maybe because of not drinking enough water. Thankfully, Suzanne has taken them both in, but in doing so, she destroys Sabrina's bond with them. A few weeks after the Mass Break-Out, the two cubs have been weaned and are now consuming meat.

Behind the Scenes  Edit

The name for the female Smilodon was never mentioned in the show but was seen in a now unavailable game.

Errors Edit

• Despite being compared to lions, their closest modern counterpart is, in fact, the clouded leopard.
• It may have had lips covering its teeth, but this is a speculation and not well supported http://markwitton-com.blogspot.com/2016/10/exposed-teeth-in-dinosaurs-sabre-tooths.html.

v • d • e Prehistoric Park Creatures

T-Rex Returns: Ornithomimus • Tyrannosaurus rex • Triceratops • Nyctosaurus A Mammoth Undertaking: Cave bear • Woolly mammoth • Cave hyena • Elasmotherium Dinobirds: Pterosaur • Incisivosaurus • Microraptor • Titanosaur • Mei long Saving the Sabretooth: Toxodon • Smilodon • Phorusrhacos The Bug House: Meganeura • Pulmonoscorpius • Arthropleura • Crassigyrinus Supercroc: Parasaurolophus • Albertosaurus • Nyctosaurus • Deinosuchus • Troodon