Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor)

[Luipaard]

(04-11-2019, 05:06 PM)Pckts Wrote: Sri Lanken Leopards are not larger than their African cousins, ask anyone who's seen both  and most will say the same. In fact, ask them how they compare to Indian Leopards in general which are smaller than Africans and you may be surprised. Their weights also dont back that claim either.
Being an apex predator is important but thinking competition breeds smaller cats is wrong, for instance, Tigers and Lions are apex predators yet depending on location, their size varies and that is because of prey base, climate and terrain to name a few. Being smaller isn't a benefit to leopards, there's a reason why the Vin Diesel's and Anderson males of Africa are talked about in such high regards. The larger the leopard the better chance it has of holding onto territory, simple as that.
African Leopards have so many more options when it comes to small-midsize prey as well as more opportunities to prey on youngsters during the calving season compared to any other leopard sub species. Africa also contains the highest quantity of Leopards on earth and thus you're going to have far more opportunities for individuals to be in the upper tier weight class. 
So in closing, yes Persian Leopards have a larger maximum "verified cases only" but I think we've seen enough hunter weights and images to say that there are a few African leopards that exceed 91kgs. There is a reason why averages overlap.

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Don't focus on just one weight chart that's actually dated. It's true that in that weight chart, the heaviest leopard was 'only' 77kg. But that doesn't mean they can't succeed that number. Another factor is that there are only about 10 measurements from scientific sources. Most of them are from from the Bilhulaya area (central highlands). Problem is that the larger leopards there are from Yala NP. Google males from Yala and you'll see what I mean. Definitely bigger than those from that one dated weight chart. 

But you're right about the comparison of a Sri Lankan leopard and an Indian one; they have a similar built. Except a Sri lankan leopard is literally a bigger Indian leopard.

As for Central African leopards; look at these measurements (from RI Pocock’s paper, The leopards of Africa.)

*This image is copyright of its original author

6 adult male skulls from Gabon and the surrounding countries averaged 10.2 inches long and 6.6 inches wide (255.4 and 164.6mm). Compare that to the average skull length and width of 262.7 and 175.9mm for adult male Amazon jaguars. 

It's safe to say that these males average 75-80kg, with large males weighing in between 85-100kg. Especially since the males mainly predate on red river hogs. They're adapted to take on larger prey. Same applies to Sri Lankan and Persian leopards. Persian leopards predate on large prey such as ibex (91-120kg) and urial (60-90kg).

Compare that to leopards from the African plains or India, where they take on smaller prey becouse of numerous facts; take it up a tree to avoid competitors, too risky to take on larger prey becouse of competitors, ...

So yes, the lack of other competitors such as lions and tigers, does change some things. Reply