Comparing Cats: A Discussion of Similarities & Differences

[Matias]

Pckts and Luipaard

With some difficulty and little time available, I tried to understand is discussion.

I want to point out the following:

In terms of weight, Jaguars undoubtedly have an “advantage” over Leopards. The largest male specimens exceed 140 kg. Some talk about 150Kg. There seems to be a consensus (I don't know the source) that 148Kg was the heaviest male ever recorded. LARGE male leopards can weigh up to 90 kg, above that science doesn't give many considerations, but they exist, we shouldn't disregard, even if 115 kg seems exaggerated to us, since any male leopard weighing 80 kg is considered a majestic specimen. It is very reasonable to deduce that on an empty stomach, these monsters weigh something close to 100/105Kg. I wouldn't waste time building a favorable narrative or an unfavorable narrative. Reasonability punctuates the existence of these very heavy specimens. If the question is to attribute that these leopards can compete directly with the biggest jaguars, the answer is NO. Pantanal jaguars and some specimens known in Venezuela are much heavier than any African or Asian leopard ever recorded, even taking into account these monstrous specimens that occasionally appear. Still, if biologists find one or two wild leopards weighing 140 kg, jaguars will still be the third largest and heaviest cat in nature. Individuals who are far above their natural range of weight and size have an ambiguous meaning, as there are dozens of questions to be asked to find the reasons for their exacerbated weight, where after removing the multiple aspects inherent to the ecology of this feline's life, examinations also need to position on its fisiologic conjuncture. Hormonal rates, glandular rates, etc., to know about its metabolic movement and to rule out organic problems that would justify this extraordinary size and weight for this specimen.

As jaguars or leopards face degraded environments with smaller amounts of large prey, the evolutionary trend towards specialization will follow along the only possible road – smaller body volume. We cannot forget that felines that depend on domestic prey have no future. Reply