Research overview: scaling of locomotor performance from small cats to big cats

Felids span from sub-kilogram wildcats to lions and tigers of well over a hundred kilograms, and body size profoundly shapes how they move. This overview reviews how speed, acceleration, jumping ability, and the relative loading of bones and muscles scale across the family. Larger cats face greater absolute forces and reduced mass-specific power, constraining agility, while small cats can accelerate and leap impressively relative to their size. Researchers approach scaling with allometric analysis of limb bone dimensions, muscle masses, and performance estimates. Why it matters: scaling explains why hunting styles differ across the family, why the smallest cats are such explosive leapers, and why the largest are powerful but comparatively less manoeuvrable, framing the whole felid radiation as variations on a shared body plan tuned by size.