The Sabertooth tiger.

 

What we need to recall is that 12900 BP, that the whole Northern Hemisphere got whacked by an incoming Comet that impacted the Ice sheet.  This had multiple consequences but essentially all the Big boys who went after the big herbivores went extinct.  Not just the shock wave killed them but the massive reduction in hunting opportunities for big carnivores.  And evolving climate change and robust human hunting ultimately  took the rest.

What needs to be addressed though, is that every known big boy was part of a size spectrum and the smaller versions typically survived if not locally, down through the isthmus to south America.  We know that Mastodons and Mammoths survived long past the event however diminished.  They just had to be in the right place at the right time.  So their demise can be obviously attributed to human predation of which we have ample evidence.

We have extensively posted on the survival of the Giant Sloth which keeps coming up because of their neat ability to project an image into an observers mind.  I have just caught them out in a human grave yard showing physical evidence of intrusion while projecting a giant snake to send an observer packing in Indiana.  A little different than a Spanish conquistador or more commonly a 'not' deer.

What i want to address is the saber tooth tiger.  It is a given that the big ones are no more, but smaller ones existed then.  Most likely evolved from Jaguars.  Recent data has spotted something. These critters were aquatic by preference and this completely explains the saber tooth.  That mouth would easily grab a large fish or even an alligator and kill it.  It is the water that makes those teeth practical when you are likely to get badly injured with land animals. This was something i never clearly understood or ever guessed at.

This also means that smaller versions are likely extant in our tropical swamps and jungles and water easily protects and hides them.  We do have a smattering of probable's, but all are assumed to be ordinary cats of some sort.

My take home is that the saber tooth genus was very comfortable in water and was adapted to this biome.  Again nocturnal and super shy with humans and land based hunting opportunities.  Those teeth are way to easy to lose.