Machairodus
| Machairodus | |
|---|---|
| Skeleton on display at the National Natural History Museum of China | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | †Machairodontinae |
| Tribe: | †Homotherini |
| Genus: | †Machairodus Kaup, 1833 |
| Type species | |
| †Machairodus aphanistus Kaup, 1832 | |
| Other Species | |
| |
Machairodus (from Greek: μαχαίρα machaíra, 'knife' and Greek: ὀδούς odoús 'tooth') is a genus of large machairodont or ''saber-toothed cat'' that lived in Africa and Eurasia during the Middle to Late Miocene, from 12.5 million to 8.7 million years ago. It is the animal from which the subfamily Machairodontinae gets its name. The type species of the genus, M. aphanistus, was comparable to tigers in size making it an apex predator of the ecosystems it inhabited. It is currently usually placed as one of the most basal members of the tribe Homotherini, and the ancestor of later members of the tribe.