Freak Felids - A Discussion of History's Largest Felines

[Pckts]

Interesting read, their hypothesis on bone size and density between the three big cats makes sense to me. Jaguars and Tigers look as though they carry more mass compared to a lion which looks as though it is a bit "sleeker" and the assumption of open plain life requiring longer strides with less strain on the joints compared to a forest life that require tight maneuvers with quick stops and turns.

What I take away from that is, Lions need to be fast in a straight line while jags and tigers need to be able to stop and turn on a dime and not as fast in a straight line.

In regards to the estimates, that makes sense that there would be a bit of a discrepancy between weight estimates. If we were to go off of their "long bone" theory, that would mean that for tigers, the tallest cat would be the heaviest cat, which we know isn't always the case, I would also think that holds true with the Jaguar. Because they hold their weight differently, its very hard to estimate that for jags and tigers, Lions may hold a bit more true in that sense. But I believe they said the correlation was stronger for tigers and jags than Lions?
So that would suggest otherwise.

Still interesting to read and helps give a clearer idea of what terrain and habitat do to the evolution of closely related species. Reply