Skulls, Skeletons, Canines & Claws

[peter]

(10-23-2018, 04:24 PM)johnny rex Wrote: There is a large Siberian tiger skull in a German taxidermy page on Facebook. I'm asking him through PM on Facebook about the measurements of the skull, but unfortunately he declined saying it is for sale only.

AMUR TIGER SKULL

Big cat skulls can't be sold or bought over here. Germany could be different. Anyhow.

A real big cat skull isn't cheap, especially when it's undamaged and large. Tell him potential buyers would be interested in measurements and a bit of history before getting to a decision. They also want to see better pictures, if possible with a scale.

HUNGARIAN NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

I saw the photographs some weeks ago. The remarkable difference in zygomatic width between the skull of the male lion and the male tiger most probably is a result of upbringing: the lion skull belonged to a wild male, whereas the tiger was born and bred in captivity. It's well known that skulls of big cats born and bred in captivity often are significantly wider than those of their wild relatives. 

Compared to skulls of wild lions and tigers, skulls of their captive relatives, apart from a few exceptions, also are less elevated and not as muscular and dense. For this reason, one would expect the skull of the wild male lion to be heavier than the skull of the captive male tiger. It was. The difference in length (369 mm. vs. 344 mm.) no doubt has an effect, but my guess is the difference in weight is a result of status foremost. When comparing skulls, one always has to distinguish between skulls of wild and captive big cats. 

I have seen average-sized skulls of wild male Javan tigers significantly heavier than larger skulls of captive male Indian tigers. In lions, the difference between skulls of captive and wild males usually is less pronounced. For some reason, skulls of captive male lions often have a lot of superfluous growths. It's also seen in skulls of captive tigers (see the photograph), but not as pronounced. Not seldom, skulls of captive big cats are asymmetrical as well.

LION AND TIGER SKULLS

In general, skulls of tigers are a bit shorter and more rounded than skulls of lions. Mandibles of lions often are longer and somewhat convex (but not always in skulls of captive lions). They also have a wider os frontalis, a longer and more elevated snout and a larger pm4. Tigers often have (relatively) wider rostrums and longer and (relatively) heavier upper canines.

AMUR TIGER SKULLS

Skulls of captive male Amur tigers often are a bit longer and more elevated than skulls of captive male Indian tigers, but skulls of captive male Indian tigers often are wider, more robust and a bit heavier.

Captive male Amur tigers have the longest upper canines of all big cats. Same for wild male Amur tigers, so it seems. The owner of this skull was poached:

*This image is copyright of its original author

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