Research library
🧬 The Felid Wiki — 3,000 research summaries
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10 summaries matching “lion” on felids
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: allonursing and cooperative care in felids
OverviewAllonursing, the nursing of non-offspring, is best documented in lions but reported in other group-living or colonial felid contexts, including domestic cat colonies. This overview surveys research on…
Research overview: cooperation and its limits across the cat family
OverviewCooperation is rare among felids, concentrated in the social lion and in cheetah and feral-cat male coalitions, making the family a useful contrast for theories of cooperation. This overview surveys r…
Research overview: discrimination learning and cognition in big cats
OverviewCaptive big cats have become subjects of cognitive testing that reveals their learning abilities and informs enrichment. This overview surveys research using touchscreen and apparatus-based discrimina…
Research overview: play behaviour and development in captive big cats
OverviewPlay is prominent in young big cats and persists in enriched captive settings, where it supports physical development and welfare. This overview surveys research on social and object play in lion, tig…
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: sexually selected infanticide across felids
OverviewInfanticide by males is documented or inferred across many felid species, from lions to tigers, leopards, pumas, and others, wherever killing dependent young can hasten a female's next conception. Thi…
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…