Barbary or Atlas lions

[peter]

(02-16-2017, 10:42 AM)johnny rex Wrote: What subspecies of lion possesses the largest lion skull ever, @peter ? Do you know the measurements of maximum skull size of Southern lions and those of Northern part of Africa?

I don't think there's much to choose between southern and northern Africa in this respect, Johnny. Talking absolutes here.

I remember a paper about the difference in brain size between Bali tigresses and male Kruger lions, in which it was stated that the Krugers averaged no less than 380 mm. in greatest total skull length. I also remember a table of J.H. Mazak with skull measurements. The table, if correct, was based on measurements made by the man who inspired him (V. Mazak). In that table, male lions from southern Africa averaged 369-370 mm. in greatest total length, whereas 3 male skulls from northern Africa averaged 372 mm. in greatest total length. 

A close call, so it seems. In relatives, however, the difference between northern and southern Africa is remarkable.

Atlas lions, based on everything I have and saw, seemed to be average-sized, if not shortish, whereas those from the southern part of Africa more or less compare to wild Amur tigers. Some weeks ago, in the tiger extinction thread, I posted a table with information on the actual standing height at the shoulder of male lions and tigers from the Paris Zoo ('Jardin des Plantes') from the 1896 or thereabout. I assumed the tigers were from Vietnam (a French colony in those days), whereas the lions could have been from northern Africa (where France also had colonies). The male lions averaged just over 3 feet at the top of the shoulder. Not as tall as an average captive male, that is to say.

All in all, I'd say that lions from southern Africa are large in every way, whereas the now extinct Atlas lions were smaller. In spite of that, they more or less compared in greatest total skull length. This means that Atlas lions had relatively larger skulls. They also seemed to be more robust.

Cape lions, also extinct, might have compared to Atlas lions in terms of body length and robustness, but they, like the Caspian tiger, could have had shorter, more bulldog-like, skulls. I saw a few of them in the former Zoological Museum of Amsterdam.

Based on I skulls I measured, I concluded that southern Africa produced the longest skulls, whereas the most robust were from the southeast, the southwest and central parts of Africa. I saw some pictures of Congo lions in museums in Belgium Congo lions. A friend from Belgium (Congo used to be a colony from Belgium) also has a few pictures. I saw this picture on 'Africa Hunting'. Not much different from the pictures I saw:

*This image is copyright of its original author

I'll try to find the table of J.H. Mazak. Reply