The size of the Barbary lion

[peter]

MATIAS

Nonsense? Far from it. 

But there is a difference between an 8.10 lion reaching his potential and a male of 9.8 with a similar built doing so. The question is why they are large (not referring to weight) in some regions and small in others. In Amur tiger country, big specimens were still shot when they were very close to extinction. Same in the Ngorogoro. And the other way round. Tigers shot in the southeastern, largely swampy, part of what used to be French Indochina were short, but healthy and robust as a general rule. In Johore (tip of Malaysia). also located near the sea, however, large individuals have been shot. Why is it one type is more often seen than another in a specific, and well-stocked, region?  

Weight largely is a reflection of the things you mentioned, but size seems to be affected by quite many factors. Hunting is one, but relative location, genes, calories and the influx of new genes also seem to be important. 

And then there's the Ngorogoro. In the Crater, the old boys still rule. In spite of a lack of new genes, they're as big as ever. Inbreeding, in fact, may turn out to be the key factor in that it apparently produces the only type able to compete with the old boys. Relative location and plenty of prey are important, but inbreeding could be the main factor producing big, and healthy, lions. Isolationwise, they compare to the former Java and Bali tigers. The tigers on these islands, however, lost size over time. Same, so it seems, for Sumatran tigers. Sumatra still has plenty of large animals. The tigers, sizewise, didn't respond. The Ngorogoro lions did, although they have to share their meals. Why is that? 

Barbary lions were shortish and not that big. In spite of that, they had large skulls. This one (picture first posted by 'Phatio) had a head fitting a 10 feet lion. I doubt if he even reached 9 feet: 

*This image is copyright of its original author

In a way, they compare to Indian lions and Ethiopian mountain lions. The Ethiopians are mountain forest cats. In spite of the lack of large prey animals, they live in prides and seem to do ok. Although not big, they're healthy and quite robust. Time to have a chat with Dr. Moran, I think. I have a few questions. Reply