Megantereon

Megantereon is an extinct genus of prehistoric machairodontine saber-toothed cat that lived in Eurasia, Africa and possibly North America from the late Pliocene to the Middle Pleistocene, first described by George Cuvier in 1824. It is a member of the tribe Smilodontini, and closely related to and possibly the ancestor of the more widely-known American sabertooth Smilodon, with which it shared greatly elongated saber canine teeth. In comparison to Smilodon, Megantereon was somewhat smaller, around the size of a jaguar, although it is thought to have had a similar hunting strategy as an ambush predator. Megantereon began to decline towards the end of the Early Pleistocene, becoming extinct in Africa first around 1.3 Ma and later in Europe around 1 Ma, surviving latest in East Asia into the Middle Pleistocene until sometime around 780-350,000 years ago. Environmental change, changes in prey availability, and competition from early humans have been suggested as reasons for its extinction.