Saber-Tooth Cats Trivia Quiz

Answer: Knife Tooth

Smilodons were known for their long, sharp teeth that grew in some instances up to 7 inches long. They were shaped like daggers and had serrated edges. These animals were fierce carnivores and weighed an average of 440 pounds.

Answer: False

Of course, most of this is speculation, but well researched speculation. Most of the fossils found show them to have short rear legs and strong front legs. This would indicate that they were most likely good jumpers and liked to surprise their prey.

Answer: North and South America

Most of the fossilized remains have been found in the Americas. They have also been found in Greenland and Iceland. This is not to rule out that they may have resided somewhere else at a particular time, but the numbers help to prove that they seemed to reside in these areas and were not members of mass migration.

Answer: False

If you view the evolution of the saber-tooth cat over time, you will see a much closer correlation with the cheetah, lion, jaguar, and cougar. In fact, most biologists no longer encourage people to refer to this now extinct race as "saber-tooth" tigers.

Answer: Bit the jugular of the animal

The prevailing notion is that Smilodons waited in ambush until they could jump the prey and maul it. They then waited for it to die before digging their incisors into the animal's body. They most likely did not eat the head. This is because the incisors would pass through the skull and weaken them. Many fossils of smilodons have sharp, intact incisors.

Answer: Cenozoic

The Cenozoic era is aged to be from about 65 million years ago to the present. It breaks down into two sub-divisions: the Tertiary and the Quaternary. The Quaternary is the last 1.8 million years and this is where you would be most likely to find the saber-tooth cats.

Answer: Pleistocene tar pits

Large numbers of skeletons have been found in the Pleistocene tar pits, which can be found in Los Angeles, California in Rancho La Brea. It seems that many of the cats got mired in the tar pits and were preserved that way.

Answer: 3

The three main species of Smilodon are Smilodon gracilis, Smilodon populator, and Smilodon fatalis. Smilodon gracilis was the oldest and smallest of the three, Smilodon populator was the largest of the three and resembled a modern day lion, and Smilodon fatalis was the most recent and seemed to be confined to the Americas.

Answer: True

Mastodons, which were similiar in appearance to the elephant, although larger, were also caught in large numbers in the Pleistocene tar pits. Fossils show saber-tooth cats attacking their larger foes as prey. This, obviously is not proven as we did not live in that age but it certainly appears that they did.

Answer: They could open their jaws to a 120 degree angle

The saber-tooth cats had extremely powerful jaws as well as huge neck muscles to better stab their prey with their sharp teeth. They thrived during the Ice Age, were considered dirk-toothed cats, and were usually found in grassy areas.
I hope you had fun taking this quiz. I enjoyed researching it and creating it.