However, their shared ancestry goes back a long way.
* Saber-toothed tigers were a distinct genus of cats that lived in the Americas during the Pleistocene epoch (about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago). They went extinct long before modern tigers evolved.
* Bengal tigers are a subspecies of the modern tiger (Panthera tigris), which evolved much later in Asia.
So, while they are both cats, they are very distant relatives and share only the general characteristics of the Felidae family.
It's important to note that while "saber-toothed tiger" is a common name, it's actually a bit of a misnomer. Several different species of extinct cats had saber-like teeth, and "Smilodon" is just one of them.