Research overview: Smilodon populator, the giant sabertooth of South America

This overview examines Smilodon populator, the largest known sabertooth cat, which roamed the plains and woodlands of Pleistocene South America after felids crossed the Panamanian land bridge. Body-mass reconstructions place large individuals among the heaviest cats that ever lived, with massively built forelimbs suited to wrestling megaherbivores such as ground sloths, native ungulates, and juvenile proboscideans. The survey reviews the species' distinctive elongated limb proportions, its broad geographic spread from the Pampas to lower latitudes, and debates over whether its great size reflects abundant large prey or competition with other carnivores. It also addresses notable fossil localities, isotopic and wear-based diet studies, and the animal's place in the late Pleistocene South American predator guild before its extinction.