Welcome to my free coloring pages blog!
There are over 1200 drawings to print and color.
Today's new drawing is of a Smilodon fatalis... or Saber-Tooth Cat!
Recent studies of the carbon isotopes found in teeth of saber-tooth cats from the LaBrea Tar Pits show that Smilodons fed on animals from the forest. This is news because previously paleontologists thought Smilodons hunted in the open area. This study shows that they, like cougars, primarily hunted in forested areas and killed and ate animals like deer. They also ate buffalo, but only a forest species of buffalo.
It was the dogs, AKA Dire Wolves, and "bigger than now" coyotes who fed on the big animals like horses and mammoths. (Evidence shows that Coyotes 9000 years ago were 20% bigger than they are now.) So, if the canines were hunting in the open areas and the felines were hunting in the forested areas, that explains why they could exist for tens of thousands of years together. They were not competing with each other for prey.
Full-grown Smilodons could weigh up to 620 lbs. That is 280 kg. Smilodons could grow to 2.2 meters long. That is over 7 feet long. Smilodon lived from 2 million years ago to 9,000 or 10,000 years ago in what is called the Pleistocene Epoch. Interestingly enough, Saber-tooth cats first evolved in the Eocene or about 56 million years ago. Smilodon was one of the last of the big saber-tooth cats. There were three different species with Smilodon fatilis as the largest species.
The type of fur pattern on Smilodon is not really known. Although they are often called "Saber-Tooth Tigers"... they are not closely related to tigers. They also have a short tail instead of the tail found on the Genus: Panthera. Panthera is the Genus of lions, tigers, and (no not bears) leopards. Smilodon is actually the Genus name for the largest three saber-tooth cats. I chose to draw today's Smilodon with spots. Notice that they are not leopard spots.
I should add that Smilodon teeth were used to stab rather than slash. But those teeth were formidable weapons, at 7 inches long. That is almost 18 cm long!
I want to give credit to National Geographic Magazine for letting me know about this new discovery of Smilodons being forest predators.
NOTE: This first drawing is new today. It was done in ink. It is available, in printable form, by clicking on the button labeled "Paleontology." Then scroll down to the last title in the Cenozoic section of the list. Below are some older drawings of Smilodon.
Smilodon on Cliff
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