The terrifying jaws of an Ice Age super-predator are about to go under the hammer.
A remarkable sabre-toothed tiger skull, complete with 7-inch fangs, is set to go up for auction at the start of next week.
It belonged to Smilodon fatalis, an extinct apex predator which used its horrifying teeth to deliver a killer bite to unfortunate prey.
This fossil, which was first discovered in a sinkhole in Columbia County in Florida in 2008, has been dated to somewhere between 11,000 and 70,000 years old.
It is expected to fetch up to £1.5 million when it goes up for auction at Christie’s on Tuesday.
‘Few fossils so effectively capture the imagination as the skull of Smilodon fatalis,’ the description reads.
‘At once elegant and formidable, it stands as a testament to the extremes of evolutionary adaptation at the close of the last Ice Age.
‘As an object, it offers both sculptural presence and scientific resonance—an immediately recognisable symbol of a vanished world.’
A remarkable sabre-toothed tiger skull, complete with 7-inch fangs, is set to go up for auction later this week
Sabre-toothed cats roamed the Americas from around 2.5 million years ago until about 10,000 years ago, disappearing near the end of the last Ice Age.
Smilodon fatalis was about the size of today’s biggest cats, typically weighing between 160 and 280kg. They are most recognisable by their enormous canines, which could grow up to seven inches long.
This particular fossil boasts teeth measuring just under that – at six and three-quarter inches – making it especially impressive.
Experts believe these teeth were not designed to withstand prolonged struggle or bone-crushing forces.
Instead, it’s likely they used them alongside an exceptionally wide gape – up to 120 degrees – to deliver a precise kill.
‘Prevailing interpretations suggest that Smilodon subdued prey using its powerful forequarters before delivering a carefully placed bite to soft tissue—most plausibly the throat—inflicting rapid, catastrophic injury,’ the description says.
‘Other hypotheses emphasise the role of the neck, proposing that the skull functioned in concert with downward head motion to drive the canines into position.
‘Though debate persists, the consensus underscores a highly specialised predatory strategy unlike that of any living carnivore.’
Smilodon fatalis was the apex predator of the Ice Age and used its horrifying teeth to deliver a killer bite to unfortunate prey (stock image)
Sabre-toothed tigers likely hunted large herbivores such as bison, camel, horses and giant ground sloths using their powerful limbs to pin prey before delivering the fatal bite.
Early people arrived in the Americas before Smilodon became extinct, meaning humans and sabre-toothed cats likely shared the landscape for thousands of years before the predators disappeared.
The description continues: ‘The sabre-toothed tiger is among the most recognisable of all extinct animals, emblematic of the Ice Age fauna that once dominated North America.
‘A member of the extinct subfamily Machairodontinae, it represents an evolutionary lineage distinct from modern big cats, characterised by extreme cranial and dental specialisation.
‘While disarticulated remains are known… well-preserved skulls of display quality remain extremely rare in private collections.
‘The skull, as the defining element of the species, encapsulates both its visual identity and its scientific intrigue.’
SABRE-TOOTH TIGERS DIDN’T GET THEIR FANGS UNTIL THEY WERE THREE
The sabre-tooth tiger may have been capable of slaying mammoths and rhinos, but it only had relatively small teeth until the age of three.
Research suggests that the animal’s impressively long, dagger-shaped teeth developed later in life than modern cats do.
But once they emerged, they grew twice as quickly as the lion’s, for example.
The sabre-tooth tiger, now more accurately known as the sabre-toothed cat, Smilodon fatalis, lived in North and South America until it became extinct 10,000 years ago.
The big cats are famous for their protruding canines, which could grow up to seven inches (18 cm) long.
Although well-preserved fossils are available to researchers, very little is known about the ages at which the animals reached key developmental stages and grew teeth, for example.
Researchers from Clemson University in South Carolina examined specimens recovered from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles
They used data from stable oxygen isotope analyses with X-rays and information from previous studies to calculate when the prehistoric cats’ permanent upper canines came through, as well as other growth events.
They believe that the cats got most of their teeth by 14 to 22 months, with the exception of their famous ‘fangs’.
The experts say the long teeth didn’t develop until the cats were around three years’ old, which is delayed in comparison to similar-sized living members of the cat family.
A partially fossilized jaw from an adult Smilodon fatalis saber-toothed cat showing a fully erupted canine – which didn’t appear until later in life
