Few animals spark the imagination as much as the sabertooth cat Smilodon. With their incredibly long canines, which hung like fangs past their jaws, these ferocious predators were first encountered by humans when our species entered the Americas. We can only imagine what ice age humans felt when they were confronted by a wild cat larger than a Siberian tiger.
Because Smilodon skeletons are perennial favorites with museum visitors, researchers have devoted themselves to learning as much as possible about the lives of these massive cats. This volume, edited by celebrated academics, brings together a team of experts to provide a comprehensive and contemporary view of all that is known about Smilodon. The result is a detailed scientific work that will be invaluable to paleontologists, mammalogists, and serious amateur sabertooth devotees.
The book
• covers all major aspects of the animal's natural history, evolution, phylogenetic relationships, anatomy, biomechanics, and ecology
• traces all three Smilodon species across both North and South America
• brings together original, unpublished research with historical accounts of Smilodon's discovery in nineteenth-century Brazil
The definitive reference on these iconic Pleistocene mammals, Smilodon will be cited by researchers for decades to come.
Contributors: John P. Babiarz, Wendy J. Binder, Charles S. Churcher, Larisa R. G. DeSantis, Robert S. Feranec, Therese Flink, James L. Knight, Margaret E. Lewis, Larry D. Martin, H. Gregory McDonald, Julie A. Meachen, William C. H. Parr, Ashley R. Reynolds. Kevin L. Seymour, Christopher A. Shaw, C. S. Ware, Lars Werdelin, H. Todd Wheeler, Stephen Wroe, M. Aleksander Wysocki
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Pocos animales han captado nuestra imaginación como el dientes de sable o Smilodon. Con sus enormes caninos, que pasan por debajo de la mandíbula inferior, este feroz felino prehistórico se topó con el hombre por primera vez cuando nuestra especie entró en Norteamérica desde Asia. Solo podemos imaginar lo que debió suponer para aquellos hombres primitivos su primer encuentro con este feroz depredador, de mayor tamaño que un tigre siberiano.
Dado que los esqueletos de Smilodon se hallan siempre entre los elementos favoritos de los visitantes de los museos de historia natural, numerosos investigadores también se han sentido captados por esta fascinante especie, dedicando su carrera a explorar aspectos de la biología de esta icónica especie. Esta obra reúne a los expertos del mundo en la materia, actualizando el conocimiento sobre el Smilodon.
