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Sabertooth
With their spectacularly enlarged canines, sabertooth cats are among the most popular of prehistoric animals, yet it is surprising how little information about them is available for the curious layperson. What's more, there were other sabertooths that were not cats, animals with exotic names like nimravids, barbourofelids, and thylacosmilids. Some were no taller than a domestic cat, others were larger than a lion, and some were as weird as their names suggest. Sabertooths continue to pose questions even for specialists. What did they look like? How did they use their spectacular canine teeth? And why did they finally go extinct? In this visual and intellectual treat of a book, Mauricio Antón tells their story in words and pictures, all scrupulously based on the latest scientific research. The book is a glorious wedding of science and art that celebrates the remarkable diversity of the life of the not-so-distant past.
268 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
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216 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 10, 2020
Not only is the author an extremely gifted artist, he is also a largely self taught subject expert on ancient mammalogy. Anton writes from the heart and his passion is keenly felt in the level of detail and personal stories included in the text. This book is everything you wanted to know about this group of enigmatic creatures, and probably more. The mighty predators are brought back to life literally piece by piece, from bone fragments, to musculature and skin, with behaviour then inferred by comparison with living cats. The artwork alone is worth the price of admission, from vivid close up portraits of many extinct species, to panoramic vistas of Pleistocene landscapes.
April 8, 2024
Possibly because the author started out as an artist rather than as a scientist this is one of the better written books I've seen in this series, even before you get to Anton's fine drawings and paintings. If nothing else Anton wants to quash certain popular notions regarding the fitness of these creatures, noting that the sabertooth body plan has emerged independently several times over the millennia and so it cannot be a fluke. As for why they periodically went extinct the argument is that these animal thrived best in certain ideal climates that favored their hunting style of close-combat ambush and that at the opposite ends of temperature extremes existence became too unforgiving; highly recommended.
Originally written: July 18, 2018.
Originally written: July 18, 2018.
August 29, 2014
This could be regarded as a follow-up to Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives, which Antón co-wrote with the late Alan Turner. In many respects, the approach is similar, although updated with the very latest information. Here, however, the topic is not restricted to cats, sabretooth or otherwise.
Instead, all sabretooths are fair game: there is coverage here of the barbourofelids and nimravids, of the sabretoothed marsupials, and even the reptile-like gorgonopsians. All of the information is detailed and a fascinating read, from one of the top researchers in the field.
On top of that, lots of the gorgeous artwork for which Antón is so well known, much of it in full colour. One can really see sabretooths as living, breathing animals, as majestic as any living cat.
Instead, all sabretooths are fair game: there is coverage here of the barbourofelids and nimravids, of the sabretoothed marsupials, and even the reptile-like gorgonopsians. All of the information is detailed and a fascinating read, from one of the top researchers in the field.
On top of that, lots of the gorgeous artwork for which Antón is so well known, much of it in full colour. One can really see sabretooths as living, breathing animals, as majestic as any living cat.
August 30, 2024
Wow. This book contains more information on sabertooths than I thought was possible to know. Very interesting. To start, I was unaware that sabertooths were much more than just felines. There were marsupial and even reptilian versions, as well as other non-feline families that are now extinct. The super long sabers occur in many families, suggesting they were a successful adaptation.
The sabers of sabertooths are pretty remarkable. They are very much like knives, long and flattened. The downside is they break easily, and many fossilized sabertooths show sabers that were broken during life.
The essential hunting technique of sabertooths was a rapid killing bite, most likely aimed at the throat of prey. The massive sabers would cut through major arteries, causing severe bleeding. To sink these massive teeth into prey required jaws that could open extremely wide. This also meant they used their long, powerful necks to add force to the bite. It was less a bite and more like plunging two knives using a downward sweeping motion of the entire neck, with the lower jaw only coming in to finish off.
Smilodon, the most famous sabertooth, was an incredibly powerful cat, much more so than any modern feline. It had canine teeth as long as 11 inches! They hunted virtually any prey, up to mammoth size. Fossil Smilodons are abundant in the La Brea tar pits.
The book reviews all the major fossil sites that contain sabertooth fossils. They lived on every continent except Australia and Antarctica, inhabiting both grasslands and forests. The book also covers every known sabertooth species and its characteristics. It then explores how sabertooths might have lived and hunted in different environments.
Interestingly, no sabertooth species survived; they are all extinct. Some due to being outcompeted by other cats, some due to loss of prey animals when the climate shifted, some potentially due to competition from humans.
A caveat is that this book requires knowledge of anatomy and biology that I lack. It uses many anatomical terms to describe the various features of sabertooths and mentions many living and extinct species with which I am unfamiliar.
The book includes numerous illustrations, both of bones and other anatomy, as well as many recreations of sabertooths in their natural environments.
A fascinating book, which is surely the definitive work on sabertooths.
The sabers of sabertooths are pretty remarkable. They are very much like knives, long and flattened. The downside is they break easily, and many fossilized sabertooths show sabers that were broken during life.
The essential hunting technique of sabertooths was a rapid killing bite, most likely aimed at the throat of prey. The massive sabers would cut through major arteries, causing severe bleeding. To sink these massive teeth into prey required jaws that could open extremely wide. This also meant they used their long, powerful necks to add force to the bite. It was less a bite and more like plunging two knives using a downward sweeping motion of the entire neck, with the lower jaw only coming in to finish off.
Smilodon, the most famous sabertooth, was an incredibly powerful cat, much more so than any modern feline. It had canine teeth as long as 11 inches! They hunted virtually any prey, up to mammoth size. Fossil Smilodons are abundant in the La Brea tar pits.
The book reviews all the major fossil sites that contain sabertooth fossils. They lived on every continent except Australia and Antarctica, inhabiting both grasslands and forests. The book also covers every known sabertooth species and its characteristics. It then explores how sabertooths might have lived and hunted in different environments.
Interestingly, no sabertooth species survived; they are all extinct. Some due to being outcompeted by other cats, some due to loss of prey animals when the climate shifted, some potentially due to competition from humans.
A caveat is that this book requires knowledge of anatomy and biology that I lack. It uses many anatomical terms to describe the various features of sabertooths and mentions many living and extinct species with which I am unfamiliar.
The book includes numerous illustrations, both of bones and other anatomy, as well as many recreations of sabertooths in their natural environments.
A fascinating book, which is surely the definitive work on sabertooths.
August 28, 2025
This whole Life of the Past series is a blessing for laypeople who might not be ready for the dig site but know their mammoths from their mastodons.
This book not only explains the many different sabertoothed tetrapods — Smilodon is just the tip of the canine — but these descriptions are enhanced with Antón's art!
This book not only explains the many different sabertoothed tetrapods — Smilodon is just the tip of the canine — but these descriptions are enhanced with Antón's art!
July 21, 2025
no napriek tomu, že som sa opäť dozvedel mnoho nového, predsa len má táto knižka už 12 rokov. Tajne som dúfal, že chaos v zaradzovaní šabľozubcov do rodov a druhov už bude odstránený, no nebol. Musím si počkať na nejaké nové vydanie
February 5, 2024
Good reconstructions of morphology and behavior, a fascinating book that will allow you to gain the basics of saber-toothed cats.
January 15, 2023
Wonderful and Informative Book about Sabertooth Cats
Fascinating and educational book about many species of prehistoric felines, especially Sabertooth Cats. I have always been fascinated by Wild Cats, both large species and small, Extinct Prehistoric Megafauna and Paleoart so this book was really enjoyable for me because it covered a lot of topics that really interested me. The author and illustrator of this book is one of my all-time favorite paleoartists and this book had a lot of wonderful color drawings of prehistoric felines by him. A wonderful book that I highly recommend for anyone interested in Cats, Prehistoric Mammals and/or Paleoart.
Fascinating and educational book about many species of prehistoric felines, especially Sabertooth Cats. I have always been fascinated by Wild Cats, both large species and small, Extinct Prehistoric Megafauna and Paleoart so this book was really enjoyable for me because it covered a lot of topics that really interested me. The author and illustrator of this book is one of my all-time favorite paleoartists and this book had a lot of wonderful color drawings of prehistoric felines by him. A wonderful book that I highly recommend for anyone interested in Cats, Prehistoric Mammals and/or Paleoart.
August 5, 2024
A fascinating look at sabre-toothed animals from various periods of history. The famous sabre-toothed cats, such as Smilodon, are featured, but also less well-known sabre-tooths like nimravids, marsupials and gorgonopsids. All are beautifully reconstructed. There are a few spelling mistakes/typos to take note of – for example, “Perysssodactila” in place of “Perissodactyla”, and “paraeisasurs” instead of “pareiasaurs”. On the whole, though, this is a great book. If you like critters with big fangs, read it!
March 5, 2014
It was a real treat getting another book by my favorite artist, Mauricio Antón. I feel like I am as close to meeting these animals as possible when I look at his reconstructions.
August 7, 2014
Even if you just look at the pictures it's worth it. (Take time to read it though, it's pretty interesting)
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews