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Smilodon populator
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    *This image is copyright of its original author Paleobiology of sabretooth cat Smilodon populator in the Pampean Region (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) around the Last Glacial Maximum: Insights from carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in bone collagen Highlights • The sabretooth cat Smilodon populator was the largest felid in South America. • First δ13C and δ15N for Smilodon from 25 to 10 kyr BP in the Pampas • Predator of large prey from open landscape (Macrauchenia, giant ground sloths) • Smilodon was possibly competing with the large canid Protocyon but not with the jaguar. • Holocene climate change may have contributed to its extinction. Abstract The sabretooth cat Smilodon populator was the largest felid in South America. It appears in the fossil record in the Early Pleistocene, as an immigrant from North America, and becomes extinct around the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic values of collagen were measured for skeletal remains from Smilodon specimens ranging in age from 25 to 10 kyr BP, for the first time in thePampas region of Argentina. By comparison with similar values obtained on co-eval predators such as Protocyon (large canid) and Panthera onca (jaguar) and a range of potential prey, such as giant ground sloths, glyptodontids, Macrauchenia, Toxodon, equids, cervids, and rodents, it could be established thatSmilodon consumed essentially large prey from open landscape, such as Macrauchenia and giant ground sloths during the last 15,000 years of the Late Pleistocene in the Pampa region. It was possibly competing with the large canidProtocyon but the jaguar was apparently feeding on smaller size prey. A more humid climate at the beginning of the Holocenemight have been unfavorable to this large predator and could have contributed to its extinction. These results also provide an important insight to understand the ecological processesinvolved in the Great American Biotic Interchange.  *This image is copyright of its original author https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018216000912 The research link Smilodon populator was a giant killer that usually hunted oversize preys like macrauchenia and megatherium etc, while jaguar in Pleistocene South America may more interested in horse than nowadays, protocyan was the main competitor for Smilodon populator but not jaguar  *This image is copyright of its original author Smilodon populator skeleton image  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author The muscle comparison, as we can see that Smilodon populator was a massively robust carnivore   (12-10-2018, 07:02 PM)P.T.Sondaica Wrote: Who more robust smilodon vs bear Freak Felids post #563 by tigerluver RE: 312 kg figure. There are a handful of popular data tables people cite when it comes to North American brown & grizzly bear morphometry including weight. IMO, a comprehensive review of these data tables are called for hence the creation of the following thread. Some of the corresponding data have already been posted (see Extant/North America section) while more will be forthcoming. Getting back to Kodiak brown bears, from the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Center, the figure of 600-1,400 lbs for male bears is easier understood. The lower range numbers correspond to young adult male Kodiak bears while the higher numbers correspond to the older mature bears. Regrettably, the data for older "trophy" size bears is thin (in my experience, this is true for many bear populations) where such data can be found would be from hunting literature sources but outside of skull measurements; finding out other morphometrical info (e.g, weight, chest girth, body length, paw size, etc) is challenging. Nonetheless, after reviewing a lot of the technical literature, the quote of the "half-ton" Kodiak bear are common is accurate. Anecdotal observation, when I am watching tourist video (e.g., Youtube) or viewing photograph of mature Kodiak brown bears (less online material) and mature SW Peninsula brown bears (a lot more online sources), I see a lot of males pushing and exceeding half-ton weight & size. Smilodon's femur is proportionately much larger than its tibia compared to all pantherines by a long ways. Its humerus is also proportionately larger than its ulna, a ratio only matched by the very robust leopard and jaguar. The longer proximal bones is indicative of the fact that Smilodon is indeed much more heavily built than the lion and the tiger, and somewhat more heavyset than the leopard and jaguar. From this, maybe the best route of Smilodon reconstruction would be one width dimensions and/or the length dimension of the bone, either allometrically or isometrically compared to only jaguars and leopards. The type of bone being used would also have to be taken into account to predict the accuracy of the estimation. Forelimb estimates may be overestimates somewhat, and vice versa for hindlimb estimates.
Grizzly with Smilodon fatalis.
 *This image is copyright of its original author
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(12-11-2018, 10:51 AM)P.T.Sondaica Wrote: @ https://www.facebook.com/toby.norman.988...1544522551 
From the sound of it, this animal was a beast. One question many have asked is whether this animal was social or not. Well let's look at the situation shall we?
Now just why in the world would Smilodon Populator be social, well we must look at why Lions today are social. Lions today live in open grasslands, and in grasslands, there are some advantages to being in a group. First off, studies in Etosha National Park show that Lions can overcome the problem of hunting in not much cover by coordinating their activities (Anton). In grasslands, they can face fierce competition, Lions have to compete with spotted hyenas, which live in clans, and a lioness on her own doesn't have a chance against a clan of them, and kills are much easily seen at a long distance. So being in a group helps the lionesses keep them at bay until the males show up. So as we can see, their are advantages for cats the size of Lions or bigger in grasslands to be social. Smilodon Populator was a good deal larger than a lion, and it lived in the open grasslands of South America. From that, we can guess that Smilodon Populator was social, but not in the same way as a lion. Male Lions are bigger then females, while both genders of Smilodon were about the same size, so their social structure wasn't like that of Lions unlike what Walking With Beasts would have you believe. However, wolves of both genders are of similar size, because of this, we can guess that if Smilodon were social, the social system was similar to that of wild canids (Anton). Overall, I do believe this animal was a social creature, and the source for this is from the works of Mauricio Anton.
Does anyone know if Smilodon Populator coexisted with American Lions? Did the huge bear Arctotherium coexist with Smilodon Populator, or did it die out before it come along?
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