Size comparisons

[LandSeaLion]

(12-04-2021, 10:19 AM)LoveAnimals Wrote:

(12-04-2021, 05:10 AM)LandSeaLion Wrote: Here’s an example - at the 1:30 mark, Dr. Luke Hunter, Chief Conservation Officer of Panthera, confidently discusses the differences between an African leopard skull and a cheetah skull…with the minor problem that the “cheetah” skull he is holding is actually that of a snow leopard:

Kudos to you man for being able to identify it from behind a screen rather than actually holding it! Or maybe you read it somewhere?

Well Snow leopards have actually pretty tricky skulls, you wouldn't expect from a Panthera member to have such rounded and short skull so I'd probably mistake it as well for a cheetah skull.

*This image is copyright of its original author

I have found a way to distinguish lion and tiger skulls more easily than most other visual identification.

Look at the highest point of the skull of both, the skull table. 
Seems like lion has the wider one.
In fact on the left there's the tiger and on the right there's the lion.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The proportionally wider skull table thing is revealed even in this front view comparison

*This image is copyright of its original author

I wish I could say I was sharp-eyed enough to have been the first person to have spotted that error in the program, but honesty compels me to say that I have seen a few other people point it out. :) I do agree with their assessment though. Cheetah skulls are more rounded and arched, and their teeth are rather different compared to a snow leopard (first is the cheetah, second is the snow leopard):

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

To my eyes, the skull Dr. Hunter is holding resembles the snow leopard skull, not the cheetah’s.

It’s certainly much easier to see the obvious differences when they’re side-by-side though. If I just had one skull, I could easily see myself making a mistake too. Reply