Sabertooth

* In Ark: Survival Evolved
* In Real Life

*Smilodon Brutalis is a solitary predator, generally found in cold, lightly wooded areas. The island's mountains are the perfect habitat, as the mammal's fur keeps it safe from the bitter temperature. While its huge fangs are excellent for delivering deathblows, the creature's claws can be just as deadly.*
*Despite normally being a solitary creature, Smilodon Brutalis are not opposed to hunting in small packs. In fact, they have to do this to take down larger prey such as Mammoths. Enough Sabertooths can take down a Carnotaurus, perhaps even a Tyrannosaurus. Either way, Smilodon Brutalis should not be underestimated.*
*Domesticated*
*While not as fast as Raptors, there's no denying the Sabertooth's increased resilience and power. In addition, well-trained Sabertooth can be taught to use their claws to flay corpses.*
*This may sound morbid, but it is among the best ways to quickly gather large quantities of hide from the giant beasts of the island.*

The **Smilodon** (Smy-luh-don) or **Sabertooth** is a medium sized carnivorous mammal found on the Ark. The Sabertooth is part of the Smilodon family. They are Alpha predators within their size range and should be avoided by low to mid tier character at all costs due to their ability to easily overpower even the most skilled warriors.

## Appearance

The Saber appears as a large cat with well-developed forelimbs and exceptionally long canines. The differences between it and its cousins in the fossil records are that it sports a longer, panther-like tail, its snout is seemingly shorter, and its head is more hunched to the ground. The ears are pointy like that of house cats. The fur on its head, upper torso, shoulders, and back is thicker and longer than the rest of its fur, which is textured with tiger-like stripes. The eyes are lime green with cat-like pupils. The nose is pink and panther-like. The snout also has noticeable whiskers.

## Behavior

These large cats are mostly common around mountains and survive well in cold surroundings. As they are highly aggressive they will immediately try to pounce at you once you come in their sights. As they inhabit most of the "higher level" area' it is best to avoid them until you are able to fend for yourself. They mostly walk in pairs but can in rare cases be found in groups of up to six. Those that spawn closer to the shorelines (mostly near beaches around the mountains) will tend to spawn alone, though sometimes come in pairs. This comes in handy if you are thinking about taming one, but you should still proceed with caution. As they spawn near the most dangerous environments once one does appear it will start attacking almost anything nearby, usually resulting in their demise. Packs can often be found and are a decimating force on both other mountain wildlife and unequipped players.

## Domestication

Used as swift mounts and by tribes looking to gather hide in large quantities.

## Trivia

* While some believe that the saber is faster than the raptor (despite what the dossier notes), they are indeed slower. Not only does a mounted saber only walk by default unless sprinting, but an unburdened raptor will outrun them with ease. It is important to note that the base weight capacity of the saber is 200 vs the 150 for a raptor, this allows a Sabertooth appear faster because of their ability to carry more weight (and ultimately a rider) before becoming slowed due to encumbrance, which is what most likely creates the illusion of the saber being faster. However it can sprint jump to catch up with raptors very easily. But this will deplete your stamina just as fast.

### Trivia not relevant for the game

* The Smilodon in the game have long tails similar to modern big cats such as tigers and leopards. In real life, Smilodon and other saber-toothed cats have very short tails not unlike those of bobcats or lynxes.

## Gallery

### Gameplay Images

With CarbonemysWith ArgentavisWith Argentavis