Comparing big cats - differences/changes with time

[BlakeW39]

(02-16-2020, 08:49 PM)Pckts Wrote:

(02-16-2020, 08:29 PM)BlakeW39 Wrote:

(02-16-2020, 09:14 AM)Rishi Wrote:

(02-16-2020, 06:03 AM)BlakeW39 Wrote: I wanted your imput on certain evolutionarily morphological ideas, i.e. why tigers and lions convergently evolved and how/why they differ physically from an adaptive POV & how jaguars diverged from other cats in their physicality and why.

The usual "originating on separate far-off corners of the world" central America, sub-saharan Africa & fareast Asia seem very reasonable explanation. Ancestors of jaguars were split much earlier & stranded away on a whole new continent when Bering Land Bridge  got submerged.

Their similarities of physique with tigers are likely result of convergent evolution under comparable niche & habitat.

Thanks for your response! I don't want to mess up anyone's thread, so if I shouldn't speak on this here just let me know.

I actually wasn't so much curious as to how they evolved from a genetic POV (i.e. lion/jaguar lineage splits from tigers, then lions and jaguars split and go opposite directions); moreso in why they evolved adaptively for their physical structure.

So like why tigers and lions got to be the same size, and moreover what differences are between them (build? muscularity? etc) and what pressures drove the similarities and differences or how/why jaguars evolved their abnormally large skulls, short limbs, and squat frames, and why the needlessly strong jaws.

Sorry if I'm inconvenient: I just thought this was a really interesting topic but didn't know where to get you guys' take. Thanks :)

Prey, Climate and terrain.
For example, I wouldn't be surprised if Pantanal Jaguars look more like Otters than Cats in the next couple 100 years.
They've already begun to have webbed toes and long, curved spines.

Good answer, I think the same, on your first statement at least.

I think jaguars evolved to have the most generalized diet of big cats. This is because the tropical rainforest they've adapted for uniquely biodiverse but yet lacks the large herbivores found elsewhere. This may have been exacerbated by the Quarternary extinctions that marked the end of large xenarthrans and notoungulates.

So in response to this, jaguars adapted to take advantage of a very diverse, and usually smaller, prey base. Because of this, different physical adaptations were required. This smaller prey often consisted of armored reptiles. They likely evolved disproportionaly large heads & powerful jaws take advantage of reptiles as well as kill moderately sized mammals in an efficient way that may not have worked for larger animals (skull bite). Indeed, even when available, jaguars seem not to prefer large mammals like tapirs. Their short limbs were maybe a response to their habitat and prey base as well, whereby they didn't need to be as cursorial and with short limbs could stalk their prey more effectively.

I don't think they'll look like otters soon though haha. That specialization wouldn't be advantageous in their habitat, especially when competition is not that high. Reply