Freak Felids - A Discussion of History's Largest Felines

[tigerluver]

Great to have you back, Peter and Guate. 

I guess I'll share some data on the American lion. 

There are three publications which estimate the maximum weight of this species. Anyonge (1993) estimated a maximum mass of 500 kg, Sorkin (2008) 420 kg, and Christiansen and Harris (2009) with a maximum of 351 kg and a mean of 255.65 kg. Anyonge's estimate has been agreed upon to be a serious overestimate. Sorkin's method is very flawed, as he attached the bone measurement of a museum specimen to the mass of a totally different animal, specifically the largest one on record, which gives very inaccurate results. Christiansen and Harris used isometry to estimate masses, but they even abondoned simple isometry in later studies (Mazak et al., 2011) as the difference between estimates based on each comparitive specimen creates a lot of doubt. Dr. Christiansen unfortunately never estimated P. atrox mass again with his regression methods.

Using essentially the same methods of regression and database for the Cromerian lion, I compiled a catalog of mass estimates of recorded specimens of the American lion. If anyone would like to see the formulas, just ask.

*This image is copyright of its original author

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