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🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries
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9 summaries matching “lion” in Physiology & Anatomy
Bite club: comparative bite force in big biting mammals
PaperThis influential comparative study estimated bite forces across a broad range of living and extinct mammalian carnivores using dry-skull dissection methods and lever modelling, then scaled the results…
Wroe, S.; McHenry, C.; Thomason, J. · Proceedings of the Royal Society B · 2005
Research overview: scaling of jump height with body size across felids
OverviewSmall cats seem to out-jump big cats relative to their size, and this overview reviews how jumping ability scales across the felid family. Physical principles predict that absolute jump height does no…
Research overview: scaling of locomotor performance from small cats to big cats
OverviewFelids 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 abili…
Research overview: sexual dimorphism in big cat skulls and canines
OverviewIn several big cats, males have larger, more robust skulls and stouter canines than females, and this overview reviews the patterns and their likely drivers. Such dimorphism is often linked to male-ma…
Research overview: slit pupils, depth of field, and the ecology of pupil shape
OverviewThe vertical slit pupil of small cats is a striking feature, and this overview reviews why such pupils evolved. Comparative work links vertical slit pupils to small ambush predators active across a wi…
Research overview: social behaviour inferences for Smilodon from pathology and assemblages
OverviewWhether sabertoothed cats lived socially is debated, and this overview reviews the lines of evidence, including healed injuries and the abundance of Smilodon in deposits such as tar seeps. Some argue…
Research overview: the snow leopard and exceptions to the roaring rule
OverviewThe snow leopard belongs to the roaring lineage yet does not roar, and this overview reviews this exception and what it reveals. Although a member of Panthera, the snow leopard lacks the fully develop…
Research overview: vocal fold structure and the low pitch of the lion roar
OverviewA lion roar is astonishingly loud and low, and this overview reviews the vocal-fold anatomy behind it. Studies of big cat larynges found unusually large, robust vocal folds with a thick layer of fat a…
Supermodeled sabercat: predatory behavior in Smilodon fatalis revealed by 3D simulation
PaperThis study built a high-resolution finite-element model of the skull of the sabertoothed cat Smilodon fatalis and compared its mechanical behaviour with that of a modern lion. The simulations indicate…
McHenry, C.R.; Wroe, S.; Clausen, P.D.; Moreno, K.; Cunningham, E. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2007