American Lion (Panthera atrox)

[GuateGojira]

(06-15-2022, 09:07 AM)Utkarsh Wrote: @gautegoreja 
In carnivora I found a guy showing 19.5 inch skull (495.3)mm with an weight estimation of 482.5 kg 
First weight estimation was 610 kg which was totally an overexaggerate later it came to 482.5 kg 



Even many people say that American lion and Mobsach Lion has 20 to 21 inch skulls in private collection 
Also which is the largest specimen of American lion 
And which cat is the largest cat

How and who measure the skull? Where are the measurements published and the per-review document to backup the claim? Don't trust in "independent" measurements from random people that normally use data from webpages that put "fossils" to sale, manytimes they do not measure the "products" or they measure them incorrectly (over the bone with a tape, which is totally incorrect). We can be sure only on the specimens reported via per review documents. Also, we can't trust in hersays about specimens in suppoust "private collections", we can trust and use only what is actually available as is the only real data. I can say that I have a skull of a cave lion of 50 cm if I want, but how you going to know if that is true? Science is based in facts that can be proved, so hearsays and unreliable measurements must be discarded inmediatelly.

Weight estimations are tricky, you should analize the formula used and the method of application, remember that weight estimations had been done before and certainly a mass of 482 kg is a gross overexageration.

The largest specimen of Panthera atrox is the one that I mentioned before, the "Univ.Calif.14001", if we base our data in skulls only. 

The largest cat at this moment, based in body mass, is Smilodon populator, but based in body dimentions the Pleistocene Bornean tiger Panthera tigris sp. described by Sherani (2019) surpass any existent Panthera cat in modern and fossil record, followed very close by the biggest Panthera spelaea fossilis specimens. Reply