Modern Weights and Measurements of Jaguars

[peter]

(04-08-2020, 01:39 AM)OncaAtrox Wrote:

(04-07-2020, 08:51 PM)peter Wrote: DARK JAGUAR

Interesting contributions from start to finish. Many thanks on behalf of all! You almost singlehandedly revived the thread.

It's remarkable that the difference in size between regions is so pronounced in jaguars. Pantanal jaguars more or less compare to Sumatran tigers, whereas those in Belize are smaller than leopards of large subspecies.

There was quite a bit of information about Surinam jaguars in the former Zoological Museum of Amsterdam (ZMA). The collection of the ZMA was moved to the natural history museum of Leiden (Naturalis) some years ago. About 15 years ago, I measured a lot of skulls in the former ZMA. I also found relaible information about the length and weight of a number of jaguars. Based on what I have, I'd say there's, sizewise, little to choose between Surinam and Belize.

There are some Mesoamerican jaguars that have reached weights of over 90 kg registered which is at par with the largest leopards. On average Iranian leopards weight 62 kg which isn't too far away from the 57 kg for Belize jaguars. We don't have much data on rainforests leopards to make an assessment, but from what I've seen their weights seem to overlap with Mesoamerican jaguars as well.

*This image is copyright of its original author

I know some male jaguars in that region can reach the weight of the heaviest leopards, but I was referring to the average of male jaguars in Belize on one hand (a) and male leopards in Natal on the other (b):

*This image is copyright of its original author

The table says young adult male leopards (4-6 years of age) in Natal average just over 66 kg., whereas mature males (7 years of age and older) average 72,25 kg. (about 160 pounds). Natal male leopards, as far as I know, seem to be the heaviest at the level of subspecies. The heaviest male (79 kg.), by the way, was a young adult.

Rainforest leopards are an enigma. I only saw 2 skulls from western central Africa in natural history museums, but they were longer and more robust than the others. Skulls of rainforest leopards have a somewhat flatter profile. The dentition seems to be heavier than in other subspecies.

Leopards in central parts of Africa, and those shot in elevated regions in Kenia in particular, seem to compare to Natal leopards. At the level of subspecies, they could be as large or a bit larger. I recently saw a few photographs of large skulls from Kenia. I'll post the details when I have more information. Reply