ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - B - THE LION (Panthera leo)

[BorneanTiger]

(08-30-2018, 01:35 PM)johnny rex Wrote: The tallest lion measured between pegs is 114 cm tall at the shoulder. But there are many sources said the tallest lion is at 124 tall at the shoulder which is equal to 4 feet. Which one is the accurate measurement?

It is hard to say which one is more accurate, but measurements like that vary by region or subspecies, and depend on the length of the forelimbs. 

For example, the Barbary lion of North Africa (Panthera leo leo) was believed to be short at the shoulder, measuring 2 feet 7 inches (79 centimetres) to 3 feet 3 inches (99 centimetres), due to having short but powerful limbs. 

Sources: 
- Sir William Jardine, 1834: https://archive.org/stream/naturalistsli...0/mode/2up 
- Sir Alfred Edward Pease, 1914, who said that Barbary lions were 'enormous', not necessarily in terms of height, but in terms of weight, due to preying on abundant livestock, meaning that they were short and fat: https://archive.org/stream/bookoflion191...0/mode/2up 
- Nowell and Jackson, 1996, quoting Leyhausen (1975) in Page 37, who said that he and Hemmer identified the lions of Morocco's Rabat Zoo, also known as Temara Zoo, as having the characteristics of the Barbary lion, such as short legs: http://carnivoractionplans1.free.fr/wildcats.pdf

Photo of a lion at Rabat Zoo by Maroc-maroc.com (http://www.maroc-maroc.com/voirPhoto-72-28-place.html): 

*This image is copyright of its original author

By contrast, Kalahari lions in Southern Africa (formerly Panthera leo vernayi, currently Panthera leo melanochaita: https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/hand...sAllowed=y) were claimed by Roderigues (1997) to be quite tall: https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/at1309 

Photo of a Kalahari lion by Allison Buttigieg (http://www.alisonbuttigieg.com/border_galleries/lions/): 

*This image is copyright of its original author

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