The size of the Barbary lion

[Spalea]

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. Reply