The size of the Barbary lion

[GuateGojira]

(01-14-2022, 02:10 AM)Spalea Wrote: Perhaps I shouldn't say anything, I am not specialist, but I really think that an apex predator's size must be correlated with the preys that are available. And as concerns the Atlas lion, what were they ? Wild goats, boars, perhaps some small antelopes and that's all ! Why were these lions bigger than the extant lions which hunt regurlarly some big preys like zebras, buffalos, giraffes and so on ?

Thus IMO, the Atlas lions having never regularly preyed big (wild) animals for an eternity haven't any reason to be particularly big. Generous-maned lion, yes, big-sized lion, no.

That is very good and unbiased point of view.

If we check the modern great cats, we found that the biggest ones came from areas with the highest density of prey. If we check the prey availability in the Atlas region, is not even near the one from Kenya, Tanzania or South Africa, to give a few examples. The density of prey is lower and if we check the example of the Amur tigers from the Sikhote-Alin region, they are as big as the Indochina tigers (biggest specimens and skulls came from Manchuria (north China), a region that had bigger prey density than the forest of the Amur region). Jaguars in the Pantanal and Los Llanos are bigger than in Central America because they prey in cattle while those from Guatemala/Belize/Mexico prey on very small prey like armadillos.

So I agree with you, Barbary lions were regarded as the biggest lions with no particular reason, they had one of the biggest manes but it was because of the climate and the modern Indian lions develope the same manes in colder countries. From my point of view, South African lions are the biggest, based in real measurements and weights and is supported by they prey density and availability. Reply