A WORLD RECORD SMILODON SABER. ...

Description

A WORLD RECORD SMILODON SABER
Smilodon fatalis
Pleistocene - Rancholabrean Age
Alachua Formation, Marion County, Florida
This truly incredible specimen is a huge specialized killing canine from the great "Saber-Toothed Tiger", Smilodon. Smilodon stands above all saber-cats in possessing the very largest canine teeth ever found in the fossil record.
Typically the sabers of a full adult cat would measure about 8 1/4 inches (tip to root base, diagonal measurement) or 10 1/2 inches around the curve. The very largest saber ever found among the hundreds collected from the world famous La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles was about 9 1/2 inches diagonal and 12 inches around the curve. This incredible specimen measures 10+ inches diagonal and 13 inches around the curve. Only a very few good quality Smilodon specimens have been found in Florida over the years so they are much rarer than in the Tar Pits. This exceptional specimen was found while trenching in order to install the utilities for a new housing project. It was broken in half below the level of the enamel on the root by the trenching machine and has been professionally restored amounting to less than 5% of the surface area. It exhibits exquisite, nearly perfect, serrations on both cutting edges and a very small worn area or facet on the tip. The color is exceptional with the enamel blade portion being a lustrous pink to orange cream color with black checking and ropy tendrils of rusty staining. The root color varies from a cream color near the blade to a reddish-brown and tan on the lower part. The blade clearly exhibits a fine texture of very tiny longitudinal striations intersecting right angles with subtle latitudinal rings for the entire length of the blade surface, giving it a very interesting and pleasing appearance. There is a wear facet on the root just below the base of the enamel blade likely caused by abrasion from tendons or bones as the cat would work its sabers in a back and forth motion to saw off larger pieces of meat. This exquisite specimen measures 10 inches long, blade tip to root tip, 13 inches around the outer curve, by a massive 2 inches wide at the fat part of the root by 7/8 inch thick. There has never been a finer saber found anywhere in North America!

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