Skulls, Skeletons, Canines & Claws

[peter]

(11-24-2016, 12:46 PM)GrizzlyClaws Wrote: @tigerluver


Can you imagine if we use the 50 mm canine alveoli based on this skull? I guess it would have broken the record as the broadest muzzle ever for the big cats.

*This image is copyright of its original author

And this skull I am pretty sure it closely related to the modern Amur tigers, consider the convergent U shape of the muzzle, while the Cave lion's muzzle has the divergent U shape.

*This image is copyright of its original author

When I was in the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, I learned a lot from Dr. Doris Mörike. We sat in the same room and she quickly knew my routine. Every time a skull took more time than usual (not all skulls had labels), she came over for a chat. She told me about the effects of climate, disease and hunting, enabling me to quickly determine a skull without a label.

When I was taking my time for a large leopard skull with no label attached to it, she was interested in what I had to say about it. The skull was larger, flatter and more robust than the others. The teeth also were much more robust. As it most probably wasn't a result of size only, I concluded it had to be a result of hunting large animals. As leopards living in open plains have to consider other predators, they often decide against hunting large animals. Forest leopards, however, have no competitors. This means they have the opportunity to hunt large animals. Some males develop into specialists. The result is a different animal with a different attitude. Hunting large animals often shows in the skull. Dr. Mörike agreed and added the shape and size of the choane says a lot as well. When it's large and deep, the owner of the skull needed a lot of oxygen. This is typical for animals living on plains. When it's smallish and shallow, on the other hand, the owner of the skull most probably made his home in a forest.

The choane in the very large skull at the top of your post is relatively narrow and not deep, meaning the owner didn't need a lot of oxygen. This is typical for a forest cat, like a leopard or tiger. In many lion skulls, the choane is a bit larger and deeper.

The skull of the tigress from northern China, with a greatest total length of 329,9 mm. and a rostrum width of 98 mm., is the largest I know of. In length and zygomatic width, it compares to the largest skulls of lionesses in northern and southern Africa, but in rostral width it's unsurpassed. Reply