GENUS: HOMOTHERIUM
Common name: “Scimitar cat”
LONGEVITY: About 4 million years
DISTRIBUTION: Extensive (North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa)
NOTABLE ATTRIBUTES:
Short, strong saber teeth capable of both gripping and stabbing
Large, powerful incisor teeth that interlock to create a vice or beartrap bite
Evidence suggests pack hunting behavior and caching food for later, implying high intelligence
Non-retractile claws grant increased traction and speed when running
Gracile body with hyena-like proportions which allows for high-speed pursuits
Huge eyes and nasal passages similar to modern cheetahs, creating excellent vision and increased oxygen intake when sprinting
Bite force comparable to modern cats (much higher than the “dirk-toothed” sabercat lineage)
WEAKNESSES:
Physically smaller and weaker due to slender build
Unable to do severe damage with paw swipes or climb efficiently, due to non-retractile claws that become worn down when running
A very formidable group with an impressive paper record, homotherium cats may not be the biggest, but certainly have a strong argument for being the baddest. Their near global distribution and relatively long run is a testament to their efficiency as pursuit predators. As another testament to their effectiveness, isotopic analysis of their bones show that they were regularly killing and eating mammoths, one of the largest animals in any terrestrial ecosystem. All of this suggests that they operated in coordinated groups as a well-oiled killing machine. Even in areas where they had to contend with bigger, nastier cats like lions and smilodon cats, homotherium established themselves as capable and efficient predators. However, due to their overall lack of bulk and raw power, they often found themselves as less than apex predators, and most species were overshadowed by their bigger, meaner felid cousins.
I give the homotherium genus the rank of A Tier.
