Freak Felids - A Discussion of History's Largest Felines

[GuateGojira]

(03-27-2022, 12:08 PM)LoveAnimals Wrote:

Quote:. So, I think that a body mass of about 450 kg

While I really hope of a such high estimate, I doubt it was actually that heavy. Now estomating without a dorsal view is useless, but I've been doing a comparison between this cat and the GDIed 434 kg smilodon

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Maybe it's just me, but I guess that the new version seems a bit wankier than the previous one, I guess it looks more like 400 kgish.
But again, visual estimates are useless until we don't see a dorsal view

In order to avoid confusions and missunderstandings in the future, I suggest you to quote the entire phrase and not only a part of it. I did not stated that I think that this particular new specimen weighed 450 kg, I said (and I quote myself) that: "I think that a body mass of about 450 kg seems not out of question, surpassing any modern or prehistoric Panthera member!" That is a different statement, and is only suggesting that estimations of up to that figure could be plausible.

Now, returing to the point, a GDE estimation, like Tigerluver explained before, is problematic and arbitrary en many senses, as we need a tridimentional point of view of the animal and honestly the upper view of the specimen used in that calculation that you quoted it looks more like a large modern tiger-lion than a Smilodon. The Smilodon species, especifically fatalis and populator, were massive and wide in its body, check that even for the biggest S. fatalis which measured about 180 cm in body length and 100 cm in height (average for a modern lion), already weighed up to 280 kg (more than the biggest modern tiger), so they were very stocky and that image reflect it but just partially.

Also, as far I remember randomdinos once explained that the black silouete in his images represents the basic musculature, not a maximum or minimum. So that same specimen with a little of more musculature and fat will definitelly weight more.

Finaly, we need to remember that all the body masses of prehistoric animals are estimations based in formulas which results may vary depening of the methods and sources of its data, so we need to be careful and not take it like the last true. However based in its size and massivenes we can say that Smilodon populator did surpassed the 400 kg and certainly is one, of not, the heaviest felid of all times (for the moment....). Reply