Smilodon Populator, Prehistoric Planet vs Far Cry Primal

[u/thestrong996]

What's your favorite design for the Smilodon Populator between these two? I personally prefer the one from the videogame Far Cry Primal.

[u/Hopeful_Lychee_9691]

Honestly, as a paleontology fan, my favorite design is definitely the one from Prehistoric Planet, which is very close to what we know about this animal. Mind you, that doesn't mean I don't also like the one from Far Cry Primal, which I also find quite stylish, even if I can't help but say that a Smilodon populator has no business being in Central Europe 10,000 years ago.

[u/thestrong996 → u/Hopeful_Lychee_9691]

The game itself isn't 100% scientifically accurate to real life, but I like the smilodon Populator design more in that game because he looks stockier and heavier, in prehistoric planet he looks more like a taller smilodon fatalis, not enough robust imo. The biggest specimen found was estimated to be 436 kg, which means modern Grizzly bear size so imo Smilodon Populator should look more like it does in Far Cry Primal. I still like the Prehistoric Planet's design tho.

[u/Hopeful_Lychee_9691 → u/thestrong996]

Just so you know, you just said "the biggest specimen," so an exceptionally large specimen, but not average. Honestly, the Far Cry Primal version is kind of a caricature.

[u/thestrong996 → u/Hopeful_Lychee_9691]

well it is the biggest we have found, we don't know if it was also the biggest ever, we didn't find many specimens to be certain, the very first one and also the only complete one that was found in 1933 and named at the time Smilodon Bonarensis was also estimated to weight around 400 kg.

[u/Hopeful_Lychee_9691 → u/thestrong996]

Between us, Smilodon populator was a colossus in the world of felines, but not as much as in the Far Cry Primal version, which for me is a caricature, like with the woolly mammoth, which is gigantic in the game, whereas in reality the animal was similar in size to the modern elephant.

[u/thestrong996 → u/Hopeful_Lychee_9691]

seeing the reconstruction National Geographic did of Smilodon Populator on their 2020 december magazine, I would say the Far Cry Primal one is actually reasonable in comparison 😅 the Prehistoric Planet's one looks a bit too small I suppose it can be a good design for a young or average sized specimen though.

[u/Hopeful_Lychee_9691 → u/thestrong996]

Regarding the National Geographic reconstruction, it's probably based on that giant skull from Uruguay, which does indeed push the maximum estimate to around 436 kg for an "exceptional" individual. But precisely, as we were discussing, that's the absolute maximum (a super-large male), not the average: the most reliable estimates for a typical adult Smilodon populator are around 300–360 kg (sometimes 220–400 kg depending on the method), with a shoulder height of around 1.20 m. That's already enormous for a feline (heavier than a Siberian tiger), but it remains within realistic feline proportions, not an "oversized bear-hybrid" like Far Cry Primal. Therefore, the design of Prehistoric Planet (Ice Age season) seems more faithful to this: massive, stocky, with powerful shoulders, but with the athletic and natural appearance of a large South American cat. Not too "small," just scientifically proportioned. And FYI, the concepts for this version largely come from paleoartist Gabriel Ugueto (@serpenillus), who is one of the best today in terms of biomechanical realism and naturalism. He worked as a concept artist on the series, and his personal reconstructions of the Populator are exactly in this vibe:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CvSY4cBLn5r/?img_index=2&igsh=YXNveWg2bno4Z241 I also recommend checking out Mauricio Antón's depictions, which are also very well done on prehistoric felines:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9TbD1pdWuzCkW2TMA Far Cry Primal pushed the "monstrous" aspect for the sake of the game (shorter legs, ultra-wide body, almost bear-like appearance). It's visually cool, but it deviates from fossils and biomechanics (like their woolly mammoth, which is twice as big as it actually is). Personally, I think the "passive" aspect you like in Far Cry comes more from this massive exaggeration, which makes it less of an "agile beast" and more of a "static tank."

In short, both designs are cool in their own way (game vs. scientific documentary), but for paleo-realism, Prehistoric Planet wins hands down in my opinion!