There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
05-26-2014, 09:40 AM( This post was last modified: 05-26-2014, 09:47 AM by peter )
HOW TO RESPOND TO A POST (b)
In the lead post, the researchers found a popular assumption regarding brain size and social life to be untrue in lion and tiger skulls in that the solitary tiger had more cranial volume than the social lion. The question is why. In this post, a few possible reasons are discussed.
1 - TIGERS ARE MORE SOCIAL THAN IS ASSUMED
Yudakov and Nikolaev ('Winter Ecology of the Amur tiger', second revised edition, 2012) concluded that Amur tigers could be more social than was assumed:
" ... According to our data, a tiger population 'group' consisted of 5-8 animals, including cubs. A resident male's home range was about 600-800 km2, whereas females had home ranges of up to 300-400 km2. These home ranges were generally exclusive. Male and female territories overlapped widely; in fact the core areas of resident males and females coincided, and they shared the same trails and maintained regular contact. Spatially, tiger population structure appeared to be comprised of monogamous pairs, or perhaps polygamous males with two or more females ... " (pp. 176).
2 - LIONS ARE LESS SOCIAL THAN IS ASSUMED
In most parts of Africa, lions live in unforested regions. It isn't easy to hunt in regions without much cover. You need either speed or groups in order to stand a chance. Lions decided for groups, also in order to be able to defend a territory. In mammals living in groups, specialisation is more or less common. Lionesses, because of their smaller size and greater speed, usually hunt, whereas pride males decided for defence and adapted for that purpose.
Young lionesses do not often disperse, whereas young males, in order to prevent inbreeding, do. Young males often live in bachelor groups. When the individuals have reached maturity, they try to take over a pride. In this way, inbreeding is prevented. Pride males don't reign for long. In order to spread their genes, they often patrol their territory and inspect territories of other prides. Many pride males mate with females of other prides.
3 - THERE IS NO RELATION BETWEEN LIFE STYLE AND BRAIN SIZE
We could assume there's a relation between life style and brain size and we could assume every species has what is needed to survive. Perhaps there is no relation between brain size and life style at all. If there is, brain development could be more important than brain size. Brain development could be related to life style, but it's just as likely there are other, more important, factors. We don't know.
4 - TIGER SKULLS ARE MORE VAULTED
Lions have flatter and longer skulls than tigers, but tiger skulls are more vaulted at the orbit. For this reason, they have more cranial volume. Skull size, therefore, depends on what is measured.
Another question is why tigers have more vaulted skulls with bigger brains. Perhaps tigers combine hunting with playing the piano and doing crosswords at the same time, but that won't bring down a deer. My take is a solitary hunter needs something special in order to stand a chance and in tigers it could have been a more vaulted skull. The vault enables the tiger to deliver more pressure at the tip of the canines, which would have more room to grow longer as well. This would result in a more lethal bite and, in the long run, less energy needed for hunting.
Social cats, on the other hand, don't need special treats. They need something to surprise and hold a struggling animal, allowing the others to finish the job. A skull made for mauling and holding would do just fine. Besides, a long skull could be of use when you are a male investing a lot of time in display.
5 - TIGERS NEED BIGGER BRAINS IN ORDER TO ADAPT, WHEREAS LIONS DO NOT
Trainers told me tigers usually are more 'intelligent' than lions. When I asked more questions, I concluded they mean tigers are more observative animals who better understand what you want. A tiger, as a loner, needs to be more observative and interactive. It pays in more than one way and trainers know.
Lions are not that interested in humans. When you are a male living in a pride (also in captivity), you need to know what other males are up to and you need to know when a female is in heat. This counts, whereas contacts with other animals or humans do not. When you interact, it isn't friendly most of the time. Interacting in a pride is about very basic things like women and mating and there's no doubt authority has a function when you are a male lion. Lions live in a different world than tigers. A world that doesn't include humans.
We could conclude lions, and males in particular, are less intelligent than tigers. But wild lions have amazed many researchers and hunters many times. The reason is it pays to be intelligent in that situation. Intelligence, therefore, depends on definition and situation and it doesn't show in being able to play the piano in your free time. It shows in crucial situations in wild animals interacting with humans and there's no question both lions and tigers have outwitted humans on many occasions.
