I am, even though I’m also glad to be focusing currently on volcanoes.
So when I saw this article about Smilidon’s sense of smell — and the excellent reconstruction that accompanied it — I wanted to pass it along.
Even though they call Smilodon a sabertoothed tiger. Sigh.
Another cool reconstruction is shown at the top of this post. It is part of a 2018 display at the Shanghai Natural History Museum.
From the article, it sounds as though Smilodon’s sniffer might not have been any more sensitive than Fluffy’s (which is much more sensitive than our own).
Why not?
Current thinking makes Smilodon likely an ambush predator, so it wouldn’t need to track prey by smell as wolves and other pursuit predators do.
I wonder how well the sabercat could hear (if endocasts show such clues).
Undoubtedly it was a skillful slinker and pouncer!
Featured image: Akkharat Jausilawong/Shutterstock
Flight To Wonder 