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Sabertoothed Cat:
California State Fossil
The carnivorous
sabertoothed cats, extinct members of
the cat family Felidae, flourished
throughout North America from the late
Eocene and early Oligocene (40 to
35 million years ago) until the close of
the Pleistocene Epoch about 11,000 years
ago). During the Pleistocene, the
sabertoothed cat successfully "raided"
South America finding large-hoofed
mammals that were easy prey. In
California, the cat's fossilized remains
are found most abundantly at the Rancho
La Brea pits (late Pleistocene) in Los
Angeles. Here the sabertoothed cat,
attracted by the cries of struggling
creatures caught in the sticky pools of
oil and tar, hunted the prey and in turn
fell into the efficient trap.
In contrast to modern
cats, the sabertooths had exceedingly
long upper canines used for stabbing and
slicing. The lower canines were
correspondingly reduced in size and, at
the front end of the lower jaw, there
often was a flange that used as a guard
for the large upper canines. As a result
of the development of the large
dagger-like canines in the upper jaw,
the skull of the sabertoothed cat was
quite different from that of modern
cats. Nasal openings were receded from
the position in typical cat skulls and
prominent bony ridges ran along the
entire length of the hard palate. In the
ear region, the mastoid process was
powerfully developed for the attachment
of muscles which pulled the head down.
The lower jaw of the sabertoothed cat
could swing to almost a right angle when
opened to attack. However, the biting
strength of the lower jaw was not as
great as it is in modern cats.
The body and limbs of
the sabertoothed cat, though
approximately the same size as the
present-day African lion, were slightly
different. The sabertoothed cat's hind
limbs were relatively light while the
front limbs, rib basket, and breastbone
were strong and powerful. The short
lower segments of the limbs indicate
that this cat was not a fleet-footed
carnivore like the modern lion or tiger,
but rather a predator of slow-moving
mammals such as mammoths, mastodons, and
ground sloths. The sabertoothed cat
probably gripped its prey with its
powerful front limbs and, with its upper
canines and strong head and neck
muscles, repeatedly stabbed a vulnerable
spot on the victim's body. Presumably,
the backward position of the nasal
openings allowed the sabertoothed cat to
continue breathing while its head was
buried inside its victim. A strongly
grooved gum covering the ridges of the
hard palate may have aided in sucking
blood.
The extinction of the
sabertoothed cats may have been related
to the decrease in larger animals upon
which it preyed. There is some evidence
that the mastodon was the favorite
victim of some later-day species of
sabertoothed cats, because both
persisted in North America only until
the end of the Pleistocene. In Europe,
however, both disappeared in the early
Pleistocene.
Sabertoothed cats are
the most famous California Ice Age
fossil. In January 1974 the species
Smilodon californicus was officially
designated California's state fossil.
This species was one of the last
surviving members of a long ancestry of
formidable felines called sabertoothed
cats.
You can read the law
as currently written. See
Government Code Section 425.7. [This
link is part of a database maintained by
the Legislative Counsel of California.]
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/
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