V průběhu neogénu byli s výjimkou jihoamerických vačnatých thylakosmilidů po celém světě jedinými představiteli šavlozubého ekomorfotypu již pouze šelmy barbourofelidi (Barbourofelidae) a příslušníci čeledi kočkovitých (Felidae). Někteří z nich pak dosahovali značné velikosti a mimořádně robustní stavby těla, přičemž v těchto ohledech překonávali ty největší zástupce dnešních velkých koček. Zvláště šavlozubé kočky na dlouhou dobu obsadily pozici na vrcholu potravní pyramidy, než nakonec definitivně vymizely ke konci pleistocénu ze Severní a Jižní Ameriky. Ve Starém světě však vyhynuly již o něco dříve během čtvrtohor, zřejmě následkem zesílené vzájemné konkurence s velkými kočkami, především pak se lvy a tygry.

Použitá a citovaná literatura:
Agustí, J., Antón, M., 2002. Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. Columbia University Press, New York, US.
Antón, M., 2013. Sabertooth. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
Antón, M., Galobart, À., 1999. Neck function and predatory behavior in the scimitar toothed cat Homotherium latidens (Owen). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19, 771–784.
Anton, M., Galobart, À., Turner, A., 2005. Co-existence of scimitar-toothed cats, lions and hominins in the European Pleistocene. Implications of the post-cranial anatomy of Homotherium latidens (Owen) for comparative palaeoecology. Quaternary Science Reviews 24, 1287–1301.
Antón M, Salesa M.J, Morales J, Peigné S, Peláez-Campomanes P., Fraile, S., 2003. Early radiation of felid sabertooths documented in carnivore-trap fossil site in the late Miocene of Spain. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23 (Suppl. to 3), 32A.
Antón, M, Salesa, M.J, Morales, J., Turner, A., 2004. First known complete skulls of the scimitar-toothed cat Machairodus aphanistus (Felidae, Carnivora) from the Spanish late Miocene site of Batallones-1. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 24, 957–969.
Antón, M., Salesa, M.J., Pastor, J.F., Sánchez, I. M., Fraile, S., Morales, J. 2004. Implications of the mastoid anatomy of larger extant felids for the evolution and predatory behavior of sabretoothed cats (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 140, 207–221.
Antón, M., Salesa, M.J., Siliceo, G., 2013. Machairodont adaptations and affinities of the Holarctic Late Miocene homotherin Machairodus (Mammalia, Carnivora Felidae): The case of Machairodus catocopis Cope, 1887. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33, 1202–1213.
Antón, M., Salesa, J.M., Turner, A., Galobart, Á., Pastor, J.F., 2009. Soft tissue reconstruction of Homotherium latidens (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae). Implications for the possibility of representations in Palaeolithic art. Geobios 42, 541–551.
Argot, C., 2004. Evolution of South American mammalian predators (Borhyaenoidea): anatomical and palaeobiological implications. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 140, 487–521.
Baskin, J.A., 1981. Barbourofelis (Nimravidae) and Nimravides (Felidae), with a description of two new species from the late Miocene of Florida. Journal of Mammalogy 62, 122–139.
Berta, A., Galiano, H., 1983. Megantereon hesperus from the late Hemphillian of Florida with remarks on the phylogenetic relationships of machairodonts (Mammalia, Felidae, Machairodontinae). Journal of Paleontology 57, 892–899.
Bryant, H.N., 1991. Phylogenetic relationships and systematics of the Nimravidae (Carnivora). Journal of Mammalogy 72, 56–78.
Costeur, L., Maridet, O., Montuire, S., Legendre, S., 2013. Evidence of northern Turolian savanna-woodland from the Dorn-Dürkheim 1 fauna (Germany). In Franzen J.L., Pickford, M., (eds) Dorn-Dürkheim 1, Germany: A highly diverse Turolian fauna from mid-latitude Europe. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 93(2). doi:10.1007/ s12549-013-0116
Dawson, M.R, Stucky, R.K, Krishtalka, L, Black, C.C., 1986. Machaeroides simpsoni, new species, oldest known sabertooth creodont (Mammalia), of Lost Cabin Eocene. Contributions to Geology, University of Wyoming, Special Paper 3, 177–182.
de Bonis, L., Peigné, S., Mackaye, H. T., Likius, A., Vignaud, P., & Brunet, M., 2010. New sabre-toothed cats in the Late Miocene of Toros Menalla (Chad). Comptes Rendus Palevol 9, 221–227.
Domingo, M.S., Domingo, L., Sánchez, I.M., Alberdi, M.T., Azanza, B., Morales, J., 2011. New insights on the taphonomy of the exceptional mammalian fossil sites of Cerro de los Batallones (Late Miocene, Spain) based on Rare Earth Element geochemistry. Palaios 26, 55–65.
Emerson, S., Radinsky, L., 1980. Functional analysis of sabertooth cranial morphology. Paleobiology 6, 295–312.
Feranec, R.S., 2004. Isotopic evidence of saber-tooth development, growth rate, and diet from the adult canine of Smilodon fatalis from Rancho La Brea. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 206, 303–310.
Forasiepi, A.M., Carlini, A.A., 2010. A new thylacosmilid (Mammalia, Metatheria, Sparassodonta) from the Miocene of Patagonia, Argentina. Zootaxa 2552, 55–68.
Geraads, D., Güleç, E., 1997. Relationships of Barbourofelis piveteaui (Ozansoy, 1965), a late Miocene nimravid (Carnivora, Mammalia) from central Turkey. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 17, 370–375.
Gheerbrant, E., Rage, J.C., 2006. Paleobiogeography of Africa: how distinct from Gondwana and Laurasia? Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 241, 224–246.
Granger, W., 1938. A giant oxyaenid from the Upper Eocene of Mongolia. American Museum Novitates 969.
Groves, C.P., 1992. How old are subspecies? A tiger’s eye-view of human evolution. Perspectives in Human Biology 2/ Archaeology in Oceania 27,153–160.
Hartstone-Rose, A., de Ruiter, D.J, Berger, L.R., Churchill, S.E., 2007. A Saber-Tooth Felid from Coopers Cave (Gauteng, South Africa) and its Implications for Megantereon (Felidae, Machairodontinae) Taxonomy, Palaeontologia africana 44, 99–108.
Hooijer, D.A., 1947. Pleistocene remains of Panthera tigris (Linnaeus) subspecies from Wanhsien, Szechwan China, compared with fossil and Recent tigers from other localities. American Museum Novitates 1346, 1–17.
Hunt, R.M., 2004. Global climate and the evolution of large mammalian carnivores during the later Cenozoic in North America. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 285, 139–156.
Hunt, R.H. Jr., Skolnick, R., 1996. The giant mustelid Megalictis from the Early Miocene carnivore dens at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, earliest evidence of dimorphism in New World Mustelidae (Carnivora, Mammalia). Contributions to Geology, University of Wyoming 31, 35–48.
Christiansen, P., 2008. Evolutionary convergence of primitive sabertooth craniomandibular morphology: The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) and Paramachairodus ogygia compared. Journal of Mammal Evolution 15, 155–179.
Christiansen, P., 2006. Sabertooth characters in the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa Griffiths 1821). Journal of Morphology 267, 1186–1198.
Christiansen, P., 2012. Phylogeny of the sabertoothed felids (Carnivora: Felidae: Machairodontinae). Cladistics, 1–17.
Christiansen, P., Adolfssen, J.S., 2007. Osteology and ecology of Megantereon cultridens (Mammalia; Felidae; Machairodontinae),a sabrecat from the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene of Senéze,France. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 151, 833–883.
Christiansen, P., 2011. A dynamic model for the evolution of sabrecat predatory bite mechanics. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 162, 220–242.
Christiansen P, Harris JM., 2005. Body size of Smilodon (Mammalia: Felidae). Journal of Morphology 266, 369–384.
Kahlke, R.D., Gaudzinski, S., 2005. The blessing of a great flood: differentiation of mortality patterns in the large mammal record of the lower Pleistocene fluvial site of Untermassfeld (Germany) and its relevance for the interpretation of faunal assemblages from archaeological sites. Journal of Archaeological Science 32, 1202–1222.
Kurtén, B., 1962. The sabre-toothed cat Megantereon from the Pleistocene of Java. Zoologische Mededelingen, Uitgegeven Door Het Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie the Leiden Deel 38, 101–104.
Lee-Thorp, J., Thackery, J.F, van der Merwe, N., 2000. The hunters and the hunted revisited. Journal of human Evolution 30, 565–576.
Lewis, M.E., 1997. Carnivoran paleoguilds of Africa: implications for hominid food procurement strategies. Journal of human Evolution 32, 257–288.
Lewis, M.E., Werdelin, L., 2010. Carnivoran dispersal out of Africa during the Early Pleistocene: relevance for hominins? In: J. G. Fleagle, J. J. Shea, F. E. Grine, A. L. Baden, & R. E. Leakey (Eds.), Out of Africa I: the first hominin colonization of Eurasia (pp. 13–26). Dordrecht: Springer.
Madurell-Malapeira, J., Robles, J.M., Casanovas-Vilar, I., Abella, J., Obradó, P., Alba, D.M., 2014. The scimitar-toothed cat Machairodus aphanistus (Carnivora: Felidae) in the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula). Comptes Rendus Palevol 13, 569–585
Marean, C. W., Ehrhardt, C., 1995. Paleoanthropological and paleoecological implications of the taphonomy of a sabertooth’s den. Journal of human Evolution 29, 515–547.
Martínez-Navarro, B., 2010. Early Pleistocene faunas of eurasia and hominid dispersals. In: Fleagle, J.G., Shea, J.J., Grine, F.E., Baden, A.L., Leakey, R.E. (Eds.), Out of Africa I: Who? When? and Where?, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series, Springer Press.
Martínez-Navarro, B., Palmqvist, P., 1995. Presence of the African Machairodont Megantereon whitei (Broom, 1937) (Felidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) in the Lower Pleistocene site of Venta Micena (Orce, Granada, Spain), with some considerations on the Origin, Evolution and Dispersal of the Genus. Journal of Archaeological Science 22, 569–582.
Martínez-Navarro, B., Palmqvist, P., 1996. Presence of the African saber-toothed felid Megantereon whitei (Broom, 1937) (Mammalia, Carnivora, Machairodontinae) in Apollonia-1 (Mygdonia Basin, Macedonia, Greece). Journal of Archaeological Science 23, 869–872.
Mazák, J.H., 2010. What is Panthera palaeosinensis? Mammal Review 40, 90e102.
Mazák, J.H., Christiansen, P., Kitchener, A.C., 2011. Oldest known pantherine skull and evolution of the tiger. PLoS ONE 6 (10), e25483. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pone.0025483.
Mazák, V., 1970. On a supposed prehistoric representation of the Pleistocene scimitar cat, Homotherium Fabrini, 1890 (Mammalia; Machairodontidae). Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde 35, 359–362.
McFarlane, D.A., Lundberg, J., 2013. On the occurrence of the scimitar-toothed cat, Homotherium latidens (Carnivora; Felidae), at Kents Cavern, England. Journal of Archaeological Science 40, 1629–1635
McHenry, C.R., Wroe, S., Clausen, P.D., Moreno, K., Cunningham, E., 2007. Supermodeled sabercat, predátory behavior in Smilodon fatalis revealed by high-resolution 3D computer simulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences104, 16010–16015.
Meachen-Samuels, J, Van Valkenburgh, B., 2010. Radiographs reveal exceptional forelimb strength in the sabertooth cat, Smilodon fatalis. PLoS ONE 5, e11412.
Monescillo, M.F.G., Salesa, M.J., Antón, M., Siliceo, G., Morales, J., 2014. Machairodus aphanistus (Felidae, Machairodontinae, Homotherini) from the Late Miocene (Vallesian, Mn 10) Site of Batallones-3 (Torrejón De Velasco, Madrid, Spain). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34,699–709
Morales, J., Salesa, M. J., Pickford, M., Soria, D., 2001. A new tribe, new genus and two new species of Barbourofelinae (Felidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) from the early Miocene of East Africa and Spain. Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (Earth Sciences) 92, 97–102.
O'Regan, H.J., Turner, A., Wilkinson, D.M., 2002. European Quaternary refugia: a factor in large carnivore extinction? Journal of Quaternary Science 17, 789–795
Palmqvist, P., Arribas, A., 2001. Taphonomic decoding of the paleobiological information locked in a lower Pleistocene assemblage of large mammals. Paleobiology 27, 512–530.
Palmqvist, P., Martinez-Navarro, B., Arribas, A., 1996. Prey selection by terrestrial carnivores in a lower Pleistocene paleocommunity. Paleobiology 22, 514–534.
Palmqvist, P., Pérez-Claros, J.A., Janis, C.M., Figueirido, B., Torregrosa, V., Gröcke, D.R., 2008. Biogeochemical and ecomorphological inferences on prey selection and resource partitioning among mammalian carnivores in an early Pleistocene community. Palaios 23, 724–737.
Palmqvist, P., Torregrosa, V., Pérez-Claros, J.A., Martínez-Navarro, B., Turner, A., 2007. A re-evaluation of the diversity of Megantereon (Mammalia, Carnivora, Machairodontinae) and the problem of species identification in extinct carnivores. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27, 160–175.
Palmqvist, P., Grocke, D. R., Arribas, A., and Farina, R. A., 2003, Paleoecological reconstruction of a lower Pleistocene large mammal community using biochemical (δ13C, δ15N, δ18O, Sr:Zn) and ecomorphological approaches: Paleobiology 29, 205–229.
Peigné, S., 2002. Systematic review of European Nimravinae (Mammalia, Carnivora, Nimravidae) and the phylogenetic relationships of Paleogene Nimravidae. Zoologica Scripta 32, 199–229.
Peigné, S., L. de Bonis, A. Likius, H. T. Mackaye, P. Vignaud, and M. Brunet. 2005. A new machairodontine (Carnivora, Felidae) from the late Miocene hominid locality of TM 266, Toros-Menalla, Chad. Comptes Rendus Palevol 4, 243–253.
Prevosti, F.J., Forasiepi, A.M., Zimicz, N., 2013. The evolution of the Cenozoic terrestrial mammalian predator guild in South America: competition or replacement? Journal of Mammalian Evolution 20, 3–21
Reumer, J.W.F., Rook, L., van der Borg, K., Post, K., Mol, D., de Vos, J., 2003. Late Pleistocene survival of the saber-toothed cat Homotherium in Northwestern Europe. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23, 260–262.
Rincón, A.D, Prevosti, F.J, Parra, G.E., 2011. New saber-toothed cat records (Felidae: Machairodontinae) for the Pleistocene of Venezuela, and the Great American Biotic Interchange. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 31, 468–478.
Rose, K.D., 2006. The Beginning of the Age of Mammals. The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Salesa, M.J., Antón, M., Morales, J., Peigné, S., 2012. Systematics and phylogeny of the small felines (Carnivora, Felidae) from the Late Miocene of Europe: a new species of Felinae from the Vallesian of Batallones (MN 10, Madrid, Spain). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 10, 87–102.
Salesa, M.J., Anton, M., Turner, A., Morales, J., 2006. Inferred behaviour and ecology of the primitive sabretoothed cat Paramachairodus ogygia (Felidae, Machairodontinae) from the late Miocene of Spain. Journal of Zoology 268, 243–254
Salesa M,J, Antón M, Turner A, Morales J., 2005. Aspects of the functional morphology in the cranial and cervical skeleton of the sabre-toothed cat Paramachairodus ogygia (Kaup, 1832) (Felidae, Machairodontinae) from the Late Miocene of Spain: implications for the origins of machairodont killing bite. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 144, 363–377.
Salesa, M.J, Antón M, Turner, A, Morales, J., 2006. Inferred behaviour and ecology of the primitive sabre-toothed cat Paramachairodus ogygia (Felidae, Machairodontinae) from the Late Miocene of Spain. Journal of Zoology 268, 243–254.
Salesa, M.J., Antón, M., Turner, A., Alcalá, L., Montoya, P. Morales, J., 2010. Systematic revision of the Late Miocene sabretoothed felid Paramachaerodus in Spain. Palaeontology, 53, 1369–1391.
Sardella, R., 1998. The Plio-Pleistocene Old World dirk toothed cat Megantereon ex gr. cultridens (Mammalia, Felidae, Machairodontinae), with comments on taxonomy, origin and evolution. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 207, 1–36.
Sardella, R., Petrucci, M., Rook, L., 2008. The African species Megantereon whitei from the Early Pleistocene of Monte Argentario (South Tuscany, Central Italy). Comptes Rendus Palevol 7, 601–606.
Slater, G.J, Van Valkenburgh, B., 2008. Long in the tooth: evolution of sabertooth cat cranial shape. Paleobiology 34: 403–419.
Scott, W.B., 1938. A problematical cat-like mandible from the Uinta Eocene, Apataelurus kayi Scott. Annals of Carnegie Museum, 27, 113–120.
Therrien, F., 2005. Feeding behaviour and bite force of sabretoothed predators. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 145, 393–426.
Turner, A., 1987. Megantereon cultridens (Cuvier) (Mammalia, Felidae, Machairodontinae) from Plio-Pleistocene deposits in Africa and Eurasia, with comments on dispersal and the possibility of a New World origin. Journal of Paleontology 61, 1256–1268.
Turner, A., 2009. The evolution of the guild of large Carnivora of the British Isles during the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Journal of Quaternary Science 24, 991–1005
Turner, A., Antón, M., 1997. The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives: An Illustrated Guide to Their Evolution and Natural History. Columbia University Press, New York.
Turner, A., Anton, M., 1998. Climate and evolution: implications of some extinction patterns in African and European machairodontine cats of the Plio-Pleistocene. Estudios Geológicos 54, 209–230.
Turner, A., Antón, M., Salesa, M.J. & Morales, J., 2011. Changing ideas about the evolution and functional morphology of Machairodontine felids. Estudios Geológicos 67, 255–276.
van den Hoek Ostende, L.W., Morlo, M., Nagel, D., 2006. Fossils explained 52. Majestic killers: the sabre-toothed cats. Geology Today 22, 150–157.
Werdelin, L., 2001. A revision of the genus Dinofelis (Mammalia, Felidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 132, 147–258.
Werdelin, L., Lewis, M.E., 2005. Plio-Pleistocene Carnivora of eastern Africa: species richness and turnover patterns. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 144, 121–144.
Werdelin, L., Lewis, M.E., 2002. Species identification in Megantereon: a reply to Palmqvist. Journal of Paleontology 76, 931–933.
Werdelin, L., Yamaguchi, N., Johnson, W. E., O’Brien, S. J., 2010. Phylogeny and evolution of cats (Felidae). Pp. 59–82 in D. Macdonald and A. Loveridge (eds). Oxford University Press.
Woodburne, M.O., 2010. The great American biotic interchange: dispersals, tectonics, climate, sea level and holding pens. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 17 (4), 245–264.
Wroe, S., McHenry C., Thomason J.J., 2005. Bite club: comparative bite force in big biting mammals and the prediction of predatory behaviour in fossil taxa. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 272, 619–625.
Wroe, S., Chamoli, U., Parr, W,CH., Clausen, P, Ridgely, R., Witmer, L., 2013. Comparative biomechanical modeling of metatherian and placental saber-tooths: a different kind of bite for an extreme pouched predator. PLOS One 8:e66888. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0066888.
Yamaguchi, N, Cooper, A, Werdelin, L, MacDonald, D.W., 2004. Evolution of the mane and group-living in the lion (Panthera leo): a review. Journal of Zoology 263, 329–342.
Zdansky, O., 1924. Jungtertiäre carnivoren Chinas. Palaeontologica Sinica, Series C 2, 1–149.
Zhu, M., Schubert, B.W., Liu, J.Y., Wallace, S.C., 2014. A new record of the sabertoothed cat Megantereon (Felidae, Machairodontinae) from an Early Pleistocene Gigantopithecus fauna, Yanliang Cave, Fusui, Guangxi, South China. Quaternary International 354, 100–109.

During the Neogene, with the exception of thylacosmilids, barbourofelids and felids were the only representatives of the sabre--tooth ecomorphotype worldwide. Some of them attained tremendous size and were of very robust somatic constitution, exceeding in these aspects the largest contemporary cats. Especially the sabre-tooth felids occupied the top of the trophic chain for a long time before their demise at the end of the Pleistocene in both North and South Ameri­ca. But in the Old World these predators disappeared somewhat earlier, probably due to the strength of mutual competition with other large felids, namely the lions and tigers.