Smilodontini

Smilodontins Temporal range: Miocene - Holocene, 10.3–0.01 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Mounted fossil skeleton of a Smilodon fatalis, National Museum of Natural History
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Felidae
Subfamily:	†Machairodontinae
Tribe:	†Smilodontini Kretzoi, 1929
Genera
†Rhizosmilodon[1] †Smilodon †Megantereon †Paramachairodus

Smilodontini is an extinct tribe within the Machairodontinae or "saber-toothed cat" subfamily of the Felidae. The tribe is also known as the "dirk-toothed cats". They were endemic to South America, North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa during the Miocene to Pleistocene, from 10.3 mya—11,000 years ago, existing for approximately 10.289 million years.^[2]

As the name suggests, the famous genus of Smilodon is part of this group, but there are also three other distinct genera in Smilodontini. The earliest known genus of the tribe is Paramachairodus. The tribe only became extinct 10,000 years ago, with the demise of Smilodon. All of these are saber-toothed cats, meaning that they have long narrow upper canines and stocky, well muscled proportions.

References

1. Stephen C. Wallace; Richard C. Hulbert Jr. "A New Machairodont from the Palmetto Fauna (Early Pliocene) of Florida, with Comments on the Origin of the Smilodontini (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae)". Retrieved 26 May 2014.
2. PaleoBiology Database: Smilodontini, basic info