Research library
🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries
AI-curated summaries for the pride’s library — verify citations independently before citing.
11 summaries in Physiology & Anatomy on lion
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: evolution and phylogeny of vocal anatomy across the cat family
OverviewVocal abilities are distributed across the felid family tree in informative ways, and this overview reviews the evolution of cat vocal anatomy. Mapping hyoid structure and laryngeal features onto feli…
Research overview: large body size, surface-area scaling, and heat balance in big cats
OverviewBody size affects how easily an animal gains or loses heat, and this overview reviews its thermoregulatory consequences for big cats. Because surface area grows more slowly than volume with size, larg…
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: 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 hyoid apparatus and the roaring versus purring divide
OverviewThe classic division between cats that roar and cats that purr was long tied to the hyoid apparatus, and this overview reviews this anatomy and the nuance behind it. The roaring big cats of the genus…
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…
Research overview: why big cats roar but cannot purr continuously, and vice versa
OverviewThe roaring big cats and the purring small cats appear to form complementary groups, and this overview reviews the basis and limits of this divide. The flexible, incompletely ossified hyoid and specia…
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