A saber-toothed cat is a prehistoric predator with enormous, curved canine teeth that could grow up to seven inches long. These teeth looked like daggers or sabers (long, curved swords), which is how these animals got their name.

The most famous saber-toothed cat is Smilodon, which lived in North and South America until about 10,000 years ago. Despite the name, saber-toothed cats weren't actually closely related to modern tigers or lions. They were a separate branch of the cat family that evolved their dramatic teeth independently.

Scientists believe these cats used their long teeth to deliver precise, powerful bites to large prey animals like bison and ground sloths. The teeth were surprisingly fragile, though, more like blades than the thick, strong teeth of modern big cats. A saber-toothed cat had to be careful: biting into bone could snap those impressive canines.

Saber-toothed cats went extinct at the end of the last Ice Age, along with many other large mammals. We know about them from fossils, including thousands of remarkably well-preserved skeletons found in the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, where ancient animals got trapped in sticky asphalt and were preserved for tens of thousands of years.