Saber-toothed tiger

Saber-toothed tiger probably preyed on a wide variety of large game including bison, tapirs, deer, horses and ground sloths. The saber-toothed tiger might have also killed juvenile mammoths and other elaphantines. It also attacked men when provoked. Saber-toothed tiger was a social predator, hunting in packs. It competed with the dire wolf for prey and territory.

Saber-toothed tiger used its great upper-body strength to wrestle prey to the ground, where its long canines could deliver a deep stabbing bite to the throat which would generally cut through the jugular vein and/or the trachea and thus kill the prey very quickly. This technique made it a more efficient killer of large prey than lions or tigers, but also made it more dependent on the supply of large animals. Saber-toothed tiger’s cumbersome build and over-sized canines made it less efficient at killing smaller, faster prey.