Smilodon fossil map
Where fossils of Smilodon have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 0 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 0 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Ice Age & later mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 4.7 million years ago to the present (Zanclean to Holocene) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Felidae |
| Named by | Lund 1841 |
| Fossil records | 143 occurrences at 121 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Germany, Bolivia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador … |
| Rock formations | txn:41045, Palm Spring, Miramar, Erfurt, Sopas, Bermont |
About Smilodon
Smilodon is a genus of extinct felids. It is one of the best-known saber-toothed predators and prehistoric mammals. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats, belonging to the extinct subfamily Machairodontinae, with an estimated date of divergence from the ancestor of living cats around 20 million years ago. Smilodon was one of the last surviving machairodonts alongside Homotherium. Smilodon lived in the Americas during the Pleistocene to early Holocene epoch (2.5 mya – at latest 8,200 years ago). The genus was named in 1842 based on fossils from Brazil; the generic name means 'scalpel' or 'two-edged knife' combined with 'tooth'. Three species are recognized today: S. gracilis, S. fatalis, and S. populator. The two latter species were probably descended from S. gracilis, which itself probably evolved from Megantereon. The hundreds of specimens obtained from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles constitute the largest collection of Smilodon fossils.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Smilodon (revision 1377411366), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 22 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q188717.
