Saber-Tooth Cat Skull Fossil
Photo Credit: Heritage Auctions, HA.com
Saber -Tooth Cat fossils are highly prized among collectors, particularly their skulls. The most desirable being those excavated from the Rancho La Brea Formation such as the present specimen. Despite the large collection of Smilodon fatalis fossils amassed at the George C. Page Museum in Los Angeles, there have been less than 10 full skulls available commercially. Fossils from this locality are seldom seen for sale due to their rarity in private collections and the fact that the site has been closed to private collecting for almost 50 years.
The present specimen is unmatched in its completeness and size and rates high both in scientific integrity and desirability. Merriam & Stock* records the largest Smilodon fatalis skull in the Los Angeles County Museum collection to reach 324.7 mm measured from the anterior edge of the premaxilla to the end of the occipital condyles. Measured in this same manner, the skull offered here is 355.5 mm, ranking it the largest Smilodon fatalis skull ever recorded!
This specimen originates from The Wilshire Hauser Tar Pit, located directly across the street from the original Tar Pit discovery at Rancho La Brea. Rancho La Brea is probably the single most important Late Pleistocene locality in North America. It is renowned for its extensive collections of well-preserved mammals and birds, as well as numerous insects, gastropods and plant remains. A series of Carbon 14 dates ranging from 12,650 ±160 to 19,300 ±395 B.P. were obtained on Smilodonbones from other collections. This places the present specimen's geologic age as Late Pleistocene or Wisconsinan Glaciation (Rancholabrean land mammal age), or approximately between 12-20 thousand years old.
Without a doubt, the present specimen is the finest ever to become available on the open market. The cranium and lower jaws were both found together and were intact. Another rare feature to this specimen is that it was found with a completely intact nasal septum. 95% of the skull is original to the specimen and from the same individual. Most of the teeth, including the huge sabers, are likewise original, with few exceptions on the lower jaws. The bone quality is outstanding, and the preservation of thousands of years in the churning black tar has imparted a warm deep mahogany patination that is simply gorgeous. The absolute length of the skull is 14 inches with impressive, scimitar-shaped canines (sabers) measuring just over 10 inches in length along the outer curve.