ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)

[peter]

A FEW PICTURES OF LION AND TIGER SKULLS 

Tigerluver lost a photograph of a skull of a Javan tiger and asked for a new one. I decided to post a few more in order to enable a comparison. As I'm renovating the house and lost view of what is where, I'm unable to provide details. 

Remember the photographs are not up to scale, so don't try to get to conclusions on size. The photographs are not about size, but about the features typical for the two species and the different tiger subspecies. It also is about the difference between skulls of captive big cats and skulls of wild big cats. Wild big cats usually have slightly longer, more elevated and more dense skulls and much larger teeth. Uppercaninewise, the difference often is significant.

Of those I measured, the lion skull (no. 06) was the longest (greatest total length), whereas the skull of the wild male Indian tiger (no. 05), slightly shorter, was the widest. It also was the most robust. The skull of the wild male Amur tiger (no. 08) was a bit longer than the skull of the lion (no. 06). 

The post is finished with a few comparisons posted before. Here we go:


01 - Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) - adult wild male - mandibula concave: 

*This image is copyright of its original author

02 - Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) - adult wild male - mandibula nearly straight:

*This image is copyright of its original author

03 - Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) - captive, old female - mandibula concave:

*This image is copyright of its original author

04 - Indian tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) - captive, old male - mandibula nearly straight:

*This image is copyright of its original author

05 - Indian tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) - wild adult male - mandibula nearly straight (the occiput was broken and reconstructed):

*This image is copyright of its original author

06 - Lion (Panthera leo leo) - adult captive male - mandibula convex:

*This image is copyright of its original author

07 - Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) - adult captive male - mandibula concave (in most male skulls, the mandibula is nearly straight):

*This image is copyright of its original author

08 - Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) - old wild male - mandibula straight):

*This image is copyright of its original author

09 - Indian tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), adult wild male (left) - Indian lion (Panthera leo persica), adult wild male (right):

*This image is copyright of its original author

 

10 - African lion (Panthera leo leo), adult wild male (top) - Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), adult captive male (bottom):

*This image is copyright of its original author

Reply