Comparing big cats - differences/changes with time

[Pckts]

(02-16-2020, 10:21 PM)BorneanTiger Wrote:

(02-16-2020, 10:06 PM)Pckts Wrote:

(02-16-2020, 09:50 PM)Rishi Wrote:

(02-16-2020, 09:07 PM)Pckts Wrote:

(02-16-2020, 09:00 PM)Rishi Wrote:

(02-16-2020, 08:49 PM)Pckts Wrote:  ...I wouldn't be surprised if Pantanal Jaguars look more like Otters than Cats in the next couple 100 years.

More like 100,000...

No, i don't think they'll need that much time.
You already see it now, their small ears, large skulls, dense orbital area, webbed toes, long, articulating spines, etc.
They've already begun the transition to a water dominate animal... 

Why? Hadn't they already been there for many thousands years?.. Did said changes appear in them over past century only & weren't noted in Pantanal Jags before that?

I'm not sure how long they've been there for but the pantanal has extreme conditions which is why you see distinguishable differences between them and their neighbors in the amazon.
And with the increase in Caiman over recent years it seems to be expediting that evolutionary process.
Their prey is limited there, especially in the north and I think that is why they've adapted quickly to adjust for their Caiman rich diet.

It's worth mentioning that unlike the lion, leopard and tiger, the jaguar is believed to be a monotypic species, meaning that it has no subspecies, despite the physical and geographical differences between different populations, like the Pantanal and Mexican jaguars: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/...0.CO%3B2-E

The classification of subspecies is a debatable one, which is why modern science seems to be shrinking it.

The differences between mexico and the pantanal are vast, even between the Amazon and the pantanal, there are many factors.
For instance, in the Amazon during the floods, Jaguars have become sloth hunters and spend most of their time in trees while in the pantanal they dont have that option which is why they are the most aquatic big cat.
What little dry land they have gets washed away and changes every season and the prey they hunt are much more aquatic as well. But this has also led to the largest version of them too.
You can use Lions and Tigers too, for instance, Crater Lions are distinct from the Serengeti lions even though they are essentially the same species but the crater being cooler with more rain and better year round grazing for prey seems to contribute to a much more dense mane that covers the shoulders as well as a more robust cat.
Bengals also show extreme variations even within the same subspecies, I really think the only thing that matters in evolution is habitat, climate and prey base.
If we were to designate every cat with slight variations as a sub species than the classifications could be endless. Reply