Reconstructed facial appearance of the sabretoothed felid Smilodon

Life reconstructions are a useful means of providing a package of information about morphology, functionality, behaviour, biology and ecological characteristics of an extinct organism. These reconstructions are of interest not only to researchers but also to a wider public. Reconstructions of sabretoothed cats in particular are widely published and exhibited, despite the absence of a general consensus on either how their canines were used or the prey sought. Cat-like restorations of the American Pleistocene sabretooth genus Smilodon prepared by Charles Knight under the direction of J.C. Merriam were accepted as valid for over three decades until GJ. Miller criticized them, claiming that Smilodon should have looked very different from modern felids. In particular, he argued for a longer mouth opening and lip line to provide a wider gape, a retracted nose and ears set relatively lower on a head with a straighter dorsal profile. These arguments were accepted by many authors employing reconstructions, and have lead to depictions of bizarre appearance and interpretations of rather specialized feeding behaviour. We believe that phylogenetic, anatomical and functional considerations point to substantial flaws in the basis for such depictions, and argue for a return to more felid-like morphology and to interpretations of broadly cat-like eating patterns.