Comparing big cats - differences/changes with time

[BlakeW39]

(02-17-2020, 03:01 AM)Pckts Wrote: Competition in the pantanal is 2nd to none, but for the most part I agree with you.
But when you see Jaguars, you realize how similar their body is to a giant river Otter. 
Obviously they're still very different but, they still share similarities that no other big cat shares.
This has got to do with the fact that they're hunting animals that are more adept in the water than land.
I'm not saying that they'll stop running on land, I'm just comparing their features to that of a specialized aquatic predator.

In regards to large mammals, they dont occur nearly as often in north, whether due to human hunting or Jaguar densisty is up for debate but regardless, they just dont exist like that in the North. The main animals you see there are capybara and Caiman. 
They're both very adept swimmers and never stray far from the waters edge. They also usually sit with one another so they probably require the same tactics. 

Tapir are no slouch, they can be double the size of a male jaguar.
But they are predated on more often in the areas they are more abdundent.
Put it this way, if you go on safari in the northern pantanal, the odds of you seeing a tapir are 1/100.

Well competition in the Pantanal is high (not sure if I'd say second to none though) with pumas, caimans, and anacondas. I was mostly speaking of terrestrial predators, though.

But yeah I definitely see their similarities with river otters. I think these characteristics are derived from different naturally selective pressures, though; the jaguar's long, flexible spine, for instance, is an adaptation for a different behavior than is the similarly long and flexible spine of the otter. The former is for great agility & athleticism for predation, while the latter is for swimming.

I totally agree that jaguars are the most aquatic of the big cats, mostly due to the fact which I stated on them taking advantage of a diverse prey base that largely includes semi-aquatic animals. But jaguars are generalists, and I doubt they'd specialize in this aquatic prey when they also take other animals, like giant anteaters.

Yeah tapirs aren't slouches, though they should be well within the capabilities of a jaguar sized felid. It's also worth noting that they're also rather aquati, and they're largely nocturnal. They also live at low densities being large solitary animals with rather slow maturation and gestation periods. But nevertheless mammalian megafauna don't make up a significant portion of the jaguars diet in way it usually does for the other extant big cats. Reply