Skulls, Skeletons, Canines & Claws

[peter]

(02-06-2022, 12:44 AM)SpinoRex Wrote: Information regarding Robert kocks 272 kg empty stomach lion revealed by a user on Discord named "YusufTutWlan"
@GrizzlyClaws @peter @GuateGojira 

*This image is copyright of its original author

Our former member 'WaveRiders' informed us about the skull of the cattlelifter some years ago during a debate. He had been to Kenya himself and posted a number of photographs of the skull of the lion. The, interesting, debate was on this forum. Most unfortunately, I don't remember the thread.   

I've seen lion skulls of similar size or a bit longer, but they were not as robust. Same for the skull of a very large and robust captive male lion that died in 1974 during a transport in the Netherlands. He was measured by Dr. P. van Bree himself, meaning the results are very reliable. The lion was 300,7 cm in total length measured 'between pegs' (HB 216,7 cm, Tail 84,0 cm) and 280 kg directly after his death. 

I measured and weighed his skull in the former Zoological Museum of Amsterdam in April and November 2004. He's a scan of the table based on the notes I made:

*This image is copyright of its original author

Skull 21903 (No. 14 in the table) was about as long as the skull of the 280 kg lion (skull 16470 - No. 15 in the table), but a bit wider. The skull of the 280 kg lion, however, was more robust, more elevated at the orbit and heavier. Most unfortunately, the skull hadn't been cleaned in the proper way, meaning the 'real 'weight would have been a bit lower. 

I compared the photographs posted by 'WaveRiders' with those I made of the skull of the 280 kg captive lion. The skull of the 600-pound cattlelifter seemed to be a bit more robust. Not that strange, as the former owner was quite old when he was shot, whereas the 280 kg lion was in his prime when he perished. 

I wasn't aware of Yamaguchi's mail. Thanks for the info, 'SpinoRex'. Reply