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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Sabertooth Cat Puzzle and Saber-toothed Cat Plastic Replica

Saber tooth cats are among the most recognized and popular of all the Ice Age animals. Fearsome predators, these cats roamed the earth thousands of years ago, using their enormous canine teeth to defend themselves in that competitive environment and to bring down their Ice Age prey. We have sabertooth cats in our store in two different styles: a challenging 3-D plastic puzzle seen above, and a lifelike model or replica (no assembly needed) shown below.

The more scientifically-accurate name for the sabertooth is the smilodon. The smilodon, or saber tooth cat (sometimes also called saber-tooth tiger), roamed parts of North and South America around the time of the last Ice Age. The most familiar is Smilodon fatalis, of which many remains have been found in the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits. It became extinct about 11,000 years ago.

Today the smilodon is extinct, and we can only imaging how one really looked, the color and markings of its coat, the way it moved, or what it would be like to look into its eyes the way we can with big cats in zoos today.

Your purchase helps preserve living animals (specifically tapirs and other animals in their habitat areas). Conservation efforts attempt to give them a chance to avoid the onrush of extinction that we are seeing all around us today. It's frightening to think that so many of the animals we know and love may not last another generation or a human lifetime. Many that the adults of today grew up with, or that our parents grew up with, are already gone or are perilously close to extinction.

On the other hand, conservation can work! In some cases, extreme conservation efforts have been able to increase the numbers. One success story is the American bison. A success story in the making is that of the California condor. Many familiar animals that we know and love are facing challenges that could wipe them from the earth - for instance, polar bears, walruses, and even tigers. The more we learn about the animals, the more we care, the more we can do to help preserve the amazing animals that still roam the Earth.

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I'd love to hear what you think. What's YOUR favorite animal?