ECOLOGY

Environment warm forests and plains
Organization solitary, pair or den (6–10)
Treasure none

The smilodon, also known as the saber-toothed cat, is a powerful feline predator that savors the flesh of large creatures such as mastodons, mammoths, elephants, bison, buffalo, deer, and other great cats (excluding other smilodons). Smilodons are noted scavengers and have no problem devouring another animal’s kill. Animals that resist the smilodon usually become part of the meal as well. Often mistakenly referred to as saber-toothed tigers by adventurers and sages, they are not in fact, related to tigers at all.

Breeding season for smilodons takes place year round (that is, they have no set mating period). A male smilodon mates with all females in the den. Gestation lasts about 80 days after which time 1d4+2 cubs are born. Cubs reach maturity around two years of age. Most leave the den and go on their own at this age.

Smilodons average about five feet long and weigh nearly 500 pounds, but can grow to a length of eight feet and weigh up to 900 pounds. Their fur is golden or spotted (similar to a leopard). Their legs are short but powerful and their tail is short and bobbed. The smilodon has two eight-inch long, downward-curving canine teeth. These saber-like fangs are very sharp and are used for stabbing prey. This creature can open its jaws almost twice as far as other big cats. Other great cats, like lions and tigers, can only open their jaws to an angle of about 65-degrees, but the smilodon can stretch its jaws to an angle of 120-degrees. These ferocious hunters prefer to attack from ambush, using their coloration to blend in with their surroundings so they can catch their opponents by surprise. When prey is spotted, the smilodon waits for it to come close, and then leaps to attack. When combating a foe, the saber-tooth bites and rakes with its claws. It uses its long canine teeth to stab its prey, aiming for the fleshier and softer parts of its victim’s body (such as the stomach or neck) where it inflicts terrible wounds with its saber-like teeth.