What are closing living animal to saber tooth?

The closest living relatives to saber-toothed cats, such as Smilodon, are modern big cats, particularly the lion and tiger. These animals share a common ancestor with saber-toothed cats, though they diverged millions of years ago. Interestingly, while saber-toothed cats are often classified within the subfamily Machairodontinae, they are not direct ancestors of today's big cats but rather distant cousins. Other relatives in the broader family Felidae include smaller cats, though they are more distantly related.