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

[peter]

PERSIAN LEOPARD

The pictures below were first posted by Chui (Carnivora forum). I decided to post them here as well. A bit uncommon, but they are special.

Leopards living in regions where the Caspian tiger once reigned are among the largest, with some males exceeding 180 lbs. Same story with leopards living in rain forests in western and central parts of Africa: they can grow large when their bigger relatives are not there.

There has been some speculation on the size of the largest specimens. I think there's no question some males grow to the size of a small Indian tigress. The Indian giant captured wild and ending his life in a zoo was over 220 lbs. when he was captured. In captivity, he added quite a bit more. He was without doubt the heaviest I know of.

The skulls I measured in museums confirmed the large size of Iran leopards. Indian leopards also grow to a large size at times, but adult males measured in a straight line averaged about 7 feet in total length. The longest I know of was 7.10 (238,76 cm.).
    
Skullwise, leopards show more sexual dimorphism than all other roaring cats. In some subspecies, the average difference between males and females (greatest total length and zygomatic width) is over 25%. 

The pictures below are unique and show Persian leopard, living in elevated regions, have quite pale skins:

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

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