ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - D - THE LEOPARD (Panthera pardus)

[peter]

Leopard skulls show more sexual dimorphism than all other roaring cats. Jaguars are at the other end. The largest and most robust skulls I saw were from central and western parts of Africa, but leopards shot in regions not that far away were among the smallest. The regional differences seem to be much more pronounced than in other big cats. One reason could be there are way more leopards than lions or tigers. The smallest I saw were shot in Eritrea, whereas Java skulls were larger and more robust than I thought. Skulls of Indian leopards also often are quite large.

Leopards living in productive regions without their larger relatives usually are large, with males often easily exceeding 140 pounds. The heaviest males top 200 pounds, but animals of that size are as scarce as 600-pound tigers. I read quite a lot about the interaction between leopards and chimps and leopards and gorillas. Very interesting. Anyone with access to good sources is invited to post original reports. Reply