Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor)

[Luipaard]

(05-12-2019, 09:38 AM)Wolverine Wrote:

(05-12-2019, 04:12 AM)Pckts Wrote: Sri Lankan leopards are apex predators yet their size isn't larger than African Leopards or even Indians based off measurements and weights

Agree with you. I have no particular data about specimens but there is no theoretical reasons why should Sri Lanka subspecie be larger than Indian. See, in Sri Lanka we have 2 powers acting in opposite directions:
1. In Sri Lanka there are No tigers so this subspecie should be large, larger than Indian subspecie, probably one of the largest in the world.

But

2. Sri Lanka is an island and here acts the law of Insular dwarfism, stating that "large animals evolving or having a reduced body size when their population's range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insular_dwarfism
So, Sri Lanka subspecie should be small... For sure larger than those from the island of Java where there were tigers.

Finally factor 1 and 2 mutually neutralize each other and in result Sri Lanka subspecie should be average to large, but not super-large. These are theoretical speculations since I dont have a data for particular specimens and it not interest me. The largest subspecies should be only two: Persian (inhabiting snowy Alborz mountains and formally Russian Caucasus) and West African, inhabiting rain forests where lions are absent.

There's no reliable data as for now; the only data available is like one old one where some leopards were measured. The average for males was 56kg and the largest weighed was 77kg. Everyone takes these weights as the norm. 

However, if you just look at their appearance via photos or videos, you'll notice they're for sure bigger than their Indian counterpart.

As for the dwarfism, the leopard is the dominant predator of Sri Lanka unlike in the savanna or in India where it is sympatric with the larger lion and tiger. In the absence of a more dominant competitor the subordinate species will tend to exhibit an increase in size (this is known as characterrelease). The leopard is free to hunt larger animals and also does not need to stay lightweight to climb high into trees to avoid lions/tigers.

This is why the 'apex predator' leopards are the largest of all leopards. I'm talking about the Rainforest, Sri Lankan, Persian and East African leopards from the Aberdare, Kenya. Reply