Thylacosmilus

Thylacosmilus Temporal range: Late Miocene – Pliocene (Huayquerian–Chapadmalalan) c. 9–3 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Two reconstructed skeletons mounted in fighting pose, Museum of Paleontology Egidio Feruglio
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	†Sparassodonta
Family:	†Thylacosmilidae
Genus:	†Thylacosmilus Riggs 1933
Species:	†T. atrox
Binomial name
†Thylacosmilus atrox Riggs 1933
Synonyms
Achlysictis Ameghino 1891 T. lentis Riggs 1933

Thylacosmilus is an extinct genus of saber-toothed metatherian mammals that inhabited South America from the Late Miocene to Pliocene epochs. Though Thylacosmilus looks similar to the "saber-toothed cats", it was not a felid, like the well-known North American Smilodon, but a sparassodont, a group closely related to marsupials, and only superficially resembled other saber-toothed mammals due to convergent evolution. A 2005 study found that the bite forces of Thylacosmilus and Smilodon were low, which indicates the killing-techniques of saber-toothed animals differed from those of extant species. Remains of Thylacosmilus have been found primarily in Catamarca, Entre Ríos, and La Pampa Provinces in northern Argentina.^[1]