Forget their ferocious fangs - sabretooth "tigers" were social animals who lived in family prides, like lions today, according to UK and US experts. The abundance of S. fatalis fossils in Californian tar seeps suggests they were packs of scavengers, lured in by the distress calls of trapped prey.

Did Sabertooth tigers hunt in packs?

The fearsome sabre-toothed tiger may have hunted in packs like the modern-day lion, scientists believe. New research points to the prehistoric big cat being a social animal rather than a solitary hunter.

Was Smilodon a cat?

The most widely known genus of sabre-toothed cats is Smilodon, the “sabre-toothed tiger.” A large, short-limbed cat that lived in North and South America during the Pleistocene Epoch, it was about the size of the modern African lion (Panthera leo) and represents the peak of sabre-tooth evolution.