🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries

This study uncovered a general relationship between the population density of carnivores and the availability of their prey, showing that across species roughly the same amount of prey biomass support…

Carbone, C., Gittleman, J. L. · Science · 2002

This study used DNA markers to measure relatedness within and between lion coalitions and prides, testing whether cooperation tracks genetic kinship. It confirmed that companion females within a pride…

Packer, C., Gilbert, D. A., Pusey, A. E., O'Brien, S. J. · Nature · 1991

Using playback experiments that simulated intruding roars, this study revealed that female lions vary in how readily they approach a threat, with consistent leaders and laggards within a pride. Some i…

Heinsohn, R., Packer, C. · Science · 1995

This study examined how male lions in coalitions share access to receptive females and defend their prides. By combining behavioral observation with knowledge of relatedness, the authors found that co…

Grinnell, J., Packer, C., Pusey, A. E. · Animal Behaviour · 1995

Observing lions hunting in Etosha, this study showed that lionesses occupy consistent stalking positions, with some individuals reliably acting as left or right wings that circle prey while others wai…

Stander, P. E. · Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology · 1992

Drawing on decades of Serengeti pride records and GPS data, this study quantified how the number of adult females in a pride affects its ability to win contested ground and raise cubs. Larger prides d…

Mosser, A., Packer, C. · Animal Behaviour · 2009

This landmark analysis showed that the size of a male lion coalition strongly predicts its tenure over prides and its lifetime reproductive output. Larger coalitions, often formed by littermates or co…

Bygott, J. D., Bertram, B. C. R., Hanby, J. P. · Nature · 1979

As apex predators, big cats can exert top-down control that ripples through ecosystems via trophic cascades. This overview synthesizes evidence that lions, tigers, leopards, pumas, and jaguars influen…

Cheetah cubs suffer extremely high mortality, much of it inflicted by lions and spotted hyenas. This overview synthesizes research documenting that on the open plains the majority of cheetah cubs die…

Cub survival is the demographic linchpin of lion populations and is highly variable. This overview synthesizes long-term studies showing that the majority of cubs die before independence from causes i…

Lions in the Kalahari and Namib regions survive in arid environments with sparse, dispersed prey and little surface water. This overview synthesizes studies showing how these lions range over enormous…

Cheetahs are largely diurnal, hunting in the cooler parts of the day, a pattern shaped partly by the need to avoid dominant nocturnal competitors. This overview synthesizes research showing that cheet…

The last wild Asiatic lions persist in and around the Gir forest of Gujarat, India, where their ecology differs notably from African populations. This overview reviews how Gir lions live in smaller gr…

Conserving big cats in a human-dominated world depends on applying their ecology to the challenge of coexistence. This overview synthesizes how understanding prey requirements, ranging, dispersal, and…

Many lion populations now persist in protected areas surrounded by human land use, and the reserve edge is a zone of elevated risk. This overview synthesizes studies showing how lions that range near…

Infectious disease can cause sudden, severe declines in lion populations, as shown by canine distemper outbreaks. This overview reviews how a 1990s distemper epidemic killed a large fraction of Sereng…

Lion prides are built on female philopatry, with daughters typically remaining in their natal range while subadult males are forced out to become nomads. This overview examines how this sex-biased dis…

Although a pride is a stable membership group, its members are rarely all together at once. This overview reviews how lionesses split into subgroups that hunt, rest, and travel independently before re…

Leopards coexist with larger, dominant carnivores by avoiding them in space, time, and behavior. This overview synthesizes research showing how leopards select denser cover, shift activity to avoid pe…

Lions live in a world structured by sound, and research has probed how they recognize one another and assess threats vocally. This overview reviews evidence that lions distinguish the roars of pride m…

When a new coalition of males takes over a pride they commonly kill unweaned cubs, which brings females back into breeding condition sooner. This research overview surveys how lionesses respond by giv…

Big cats not only compete for prey but kill one another, and intraguild predation shapes the structure of carnivore communities. This overview synthesizes research on how dominant cats such as lions a…

Lion territory size ranges from tens to many hundreds of square kilometers depending on prey density and water availability. This overview reviews radio-telemetry and GPS studies showing that prides i…

Kruger National Park supports one of the most studied savanna lion populations, offering insight into how large protected areas regulate big cat numbers. This overview reviews how prey availability, d…

As the largest African cat, the lion exerts strong intraguild pressure on cheetahs and leopards. This overview synthesizes research on how lions kill cheetah cubs and steal kills, forcing cheetahs int…

In the seasonally flooded Okavango Delta, lions face a landscape that shifts from dry ground to a maze of channels and islands. This overview reviews how delta prides adapt by wading and even swimming…

The length of time a male coalition holds a pride is a master variable in lion ecology because it governs how many of their cubs survive to independence. This overview synthesizes research linking coa…

Where several large cats share a landscape, they coexist by partitioning resources along axes of prey size, habitat, and activity. This overview synthesizes research across continents showing how tige…

The abundance of big cats is governed largely from the bottom up by the biomass of their prey. This overview synthesizes the strong, repeatedly demonstrated relationship between ungulate prey density…

Across Africa lions take a wide spectrum of prey but show local specialization driven by abundance and profitability. This overview examines how some prides become buffalo specialists, particularly wh…