Who is more dangerous, who is faster and who is stronger - a lion or a tiger? American lion: the giant ancestor of modern cats Saber-toothed tiger vs. lion
If you ask even a child about who is the king of animals, then the answer will be unequivocal: "Of course, a lion." Yet there is another opinion. Many experts give the palm to the tiger, and they are sure that it will be he who will emerge victorious from the battle of these two titans. But in order to determine who is stronger, who is faster and who is more dangerous - a tiger or a lion, it is necessary to provide the main characteristics of these two animals.
a lion
Now lions are found only in Asia and Africa, although earlier their range of residence was much wider - from Europe to the Middle East. But over time, people pushed them back, and now in wildlife lions are found only in the south, east and west of Africa, as well as in India. African and Asian lions differ in their appearance and basic characteristics from each other: it affects different environment a habitat.
These representatives of the cat family live in small groups - prides, the number of which ranges from four to thirty or more individuals. Usually a pride includes two or three males, one of which dominates, and several females with offspring. Large dimensions do not prevent these animals from overcoming even a three-meter height. In general, jumping is their forte. When hunting, the lion freezes in the grass in anticipation of the victim, and then knocks it to the ground in one calculated leap. Although, by the way, the main earner is the female, and the male is more responsible for protecting the territory of the pride from unwanted intrusions. It is quite easy to distinguish a lion from a lioness: the male has a lush mane, and the lioness does not.
Tiger
There are different subspecies: Amur, Bengal, Indochinese, Malay, Sumatran, Chinese. All names correspond to the habitat.
Tigers are solitary hunters. They do not live in groups, but apart. The male occupies an area of 700-800 square kilometers, and 500 square kilometers is enough for the female with offspring.
Who is bigger - a tiger or a lion?
The weight of an adult lion reaches from 180 to 240 kg, and the body length reaches three meters. Females are slightly smaller: the average weight is 140 kg, and the body length is half a meter shorter.
The length of the body of an average adult tiger is not inferior to the length of the body of a lion, on the contrary, it is slightly longer. As for body weight, there is also a difference of 50 kg in favor of the tiger. Representatives of the Amur subspecies are even heavier: their weight reaches 350 kg.
So, who is bigger - a lion or a tiger? It turns out that the striped representative of the cat family beats the maned relative a little in size.
Comparison of the strength of two predators
And who is stronger - a lion or a tiger? The answer is far from clear. It depends on what is considered indicators of strength: either the characteristics of the species, or the number of rounds won. The claws of a tiger are sharper and longer (10 cm) than those of a lion (7 cm). Since the tiger is on average heavier than the lion, it means that he has more muscles. The strength of their jaws is approximately the same, and they kill the victim in a similar way: they bite their fangs into the neck. But the success of the duel depends not only on who is bigger - a tiger or a lion, but also on the tactics of the battle. For example, the blow of a lion is more crushing. With one swing, he kills a hyena or a zebra. If you take external characteristics the tiger is stronger than the lion. But if we take the specific results of the clashes between these two animals as a basis, then the king of beasts does not give up its positions and proves that it deserved such a title.
Who is faster - a lion or a tiger?
Here the advantage is on the side of the tabby cat. An adult tiger can reach speeds of up to 80 km/h, while a lion is only 60 km/h. True, both those and others are unable to run at such a speed for long distances.
Who is more dangerous?
According to its behavior in a fight, the tiger seems to be more aggressive than the lion. He immediately rushes into battle, while the lion can enter the battle as if reluctantly. Sometimes it seems that he plays first rather than tries to strike. It's all about their social nature. The tiger is used to fighting alone, he knows that he has no one to wait for help from. And the lion, who mostly hunts with members of the pride, may habitually think that he has a support group behind him, ready to turn on at any moment, and therefore behaves less intimidating than the enemy.
Who is more resilient?
Definitely a lion. It seems that he does not care even about deep wounds and pain. He will fight to the end. The tiger, after several injuries inflicted on him, as a rule, runs away. In a fight, the tiger makes more active, but unnecessary movements, and because of this, his strength is quickly depleted.
Who wins the conflict?
The answer to the question "who is stronger - a lion or a tiger" requires facts and documentary evidence, and not just unfounded reasoning. There are many real videos, which depicts the fight between two titans. In a nutshell, the conclusion is this: the tiger is the initiator of the conflict, but he retreats after the lion shows who is the master of the situation. The latter is more confident. Yes, and the lion has more fighting experience, because adult lions constantly fight for territory, and a tiger can only take part in a fight a couple of times in a lifetime.
The duel itself at first looks as if the tiger still inflicts more blows on the enemy, and this creates the illusion of his victory. But mostly these blows do not reach their goal, because the lion manages to dodge in time. The tiger, on the other hand, makes a lot of unnecessary movements, and this gets tired faster. In battle, he stands on two hind legs and tries to fight with his front legs, and at the same time it is harder to maintain balance. In addition, his strategy is not well thought out: he tries to hit on the neck, but the lion has a powerful mane that absorbs these blows, and in total they do not bring the lion great harm. The blows of the lion are more calculated, and if he beats, then so that the tiger will fall for sure. This predator strikes with one paw, standing on three others, and tries to get into the unprotected neck or tear a tuft of skin from the sides or back, and it succeeds quite often. If the blow is strong, but not fatal, then the tiger shamefully runs away, whining like a dog.
In fairness, it should be noted that there is also another side of the coin. Perhaps the tiger runs away not so much because he is tired or scared, but because more lion is afraid of wounds and does not see the need to stand to the death in a domestic showdown. After all, if a wounded lion needs to lie down, then other members of the pride will take care of him, and the tiger can only rely on himself, and severe severe injuries doom him to starvation. So he can choose to retreat.
Fights in Ancient Rome
It is interesting that the expression "king of beasts" was attached to the lion at the time ancient rome. The attitude towards him as the owner of great strength is evidenced by many architectural monuments, where this majestic predator is depicted as a winner. The question of who is stronger - a lion or a tiger, was also of interest to the ancient Romans. For the sake of the spectators, who were thirsty for bloody spectacles, different animals were pitted. Very often it was lions and tigers who had to measure their strength.
Who usually wins these fights? Almost all historical reports speak in favor of lions. For example, the predominant victories of these predators over tigers are recorded in Plato's Dialogues and Cleopatra's Memoirs. Moreover, there is evidence that the lion tore even an elephant due to its grip and technicality.
Another additional answer to the question of who is stronger - a lion or a tiger, are the architectural monuments of Ancient Rome. It is the lion that is depicted on the sculptures as a symbol of courage and strength. Therefore, eyewitnesses of animal battles also considered him so. There are very few monuments where the tiger is immortalized.
Skirmishes in zoos and circuses
In wildlife, individual fights would never have taken place, because the habitats of some subspecies do not intersect. For example, an Amur tiger or a lion living in Africa would never have had the opportunity to measure strength. Whether it's zoos, where they live in neighboring cells.
You can't argue with numbers. In most fatal cases, tigers fell victim. When they are together with lions in a confined space, such as an aviary or a cage, the tigers are very panicked, because they have nowhere to escape. They behave rather irrationally, and this is the main reason for their defeats. The lion, on the contrary, bends his line to the end, and the final outcome is the death of the enemy.
One animal trainer described the case of a lion named Sultan the First. During one performance at the circus, he challenged all the tigers. They approached him in the arena, and he defeated them all in turn. And it was only big young and strong beasts. Sultan the First, like an experienced boxer, delivered false blows, bluffed, forcing the tigers to miss, and then delivered a crushing blow. Defeated Tigers crawled around the arena, and the winner triumphantly finished them off. No one could pull them apart, all the tigers died. It was a cruel sight.
Having considered these facts, each reader can decide for himself who is better - a lion or a tiger - will prove himself in a fight. Although it would be much better if they never fought among themselves and did not attack a person.
Before man became a hunter and made his way to the top of the food chain, cats were the most successful and powerful predators. Even today, felines such as tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards are still admired and feared, but even they cannot outshine their extinct ancestors.
giant cheetah
The giant cheetah belongs to the same genus as modern cheetahs. And it looked similar, but was much larger. Weighing up to 150 kg, the cheetah was as big as African lion and could hunt big booty. Some suggest that the giant cheetah could accelerate to 115 km / h! This beast lived in Europe and Asia during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. Extinct within the last ice age.
Xenosmilus
Xenosmilus is a relative of Smilodon (the famous saber-toothed tiger), but instead of long, blade-like fangs, it had shorter teeth. They looked more like the teeth of a shark and a carnivorous dinosaur than the teeth of a modern cat. This creature hunted from an ambush and killed the victim, tearing out pieces of meat from it. Xenosmilus was quite large by today's standards - weighing up to 230 kg, and in size it looked like an adult lion or tiger. The remains of this cat were found in Florida.
giant jaguar
Today, jaguars are rather small animals compared to lions and tigers, usually weighing 60-100 kg. In prehistoric times, North and South America were home to giant jaguars. These cats had much longer limbs and tail than the modern jaguar. Scientists believe that jaguars lived on open plains, but due to rivalry with lions and other big cats, they were forced to find more wooded areas. Giant prehistoric jaguars were the size of a lion or tiger and very strong.
European jaguar
Unlike the giant jaguar mentioned, the European jaguar did not belong to the same species as modern jaguars. No one knows what this prehistoric cat looked like. Some scientists believe that most likely it looked like modern spotted felines, or maybe a cross between a lion and a jaguar. Obviously, this creature was a dangerous predator, weighed up to 210 kg and was at the top of the food chain 1.5 million years ago. His remains have been found in Germany, France, England, Spain and the Netherlands.
cave lion
The cave lion is a subspecies of a lion of very large size and weighing up to 300 kg. This is one of the most dangerous and strong predators who lived during the last ice age in Europe. There is evidence that he was feared and possibly worshiped by prehistoric people. Many drawings and several figurines depicting a cave lion have been found. Interestingly, this lion was depicted without a mane.
Homotherium
Homotherium was one of the most dangerous representatives feline in prehistoric times, lived in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. It has adapted well to environmental conditions, including the subarctic tundra, and lived for 5 million years before its extinction 10,000 years ago. Outwardly, Homotherium differed from other large cats. The forelimbs were somewhat longer than the hind limbs, resembling a hyena. The structure of the hind limbs of Homotherium indicates that it jumped worse than modern cats. Maybe Homotherium was not the most big predator, but some finds show that the mass of this cat reached 400 kg, which is more than the mass of the modern Siberian tiger.
Machairod
Unlike Smilodon, which was a classic saber-toothed tiger, its short tail had different body proportions from a real tiger. The Mahairods, on the other hand, looked like giant tigers with saber teeth, as well as similar proportions and long tail. Whether the beast had stripes is unknown. Found in Chad, Africa, mahairod remains suggest that this creature was one of the most big cats of all times. It weighed up to 500 kg and was the size of a horse. He hunted elephants, rhinos and other herbivores. Machairod most likely looked like a giant tiger from a 10,000 BC movie.
american lion
After Smilodon, this is probably the most famous prehistoric cat. It lived in North and South America during the Pleistocene and became extinct 11,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. Most scientists claim that the American lion was a giant relative modern lion. Its weight was 470 kg. There is some debate about his hunting technique, but he most likely hunted alone.
Pleistocene tiger
This is the most mysterious beast on the list, known from fragmentary remains. This is not a separate species, but rather an early version modern tiger. Tigers evolved in Asia 2 million years ago to prey on a variety of huge herbivores that lived on the continent at the time. Tigers are the largest members of the cat family. However, during the Pleistocene period, there was more food, and therefore tigers were also larger. Some remains have been found in Russia, China and the island of Java.
Smilodon
The most famous cat, which had teeth similar to a dagger or a knife with a long straight blade, can be called Smilodon. He and his close relatives were distinguished by long serrated fangs and a short-legged muscular body resembling a bear. Strong physique did not allow them to run fast over long distances, so they most likely attacked from an ambush. Well, scimitar-toothed cats relied on speed, having long limbs, like those of cheetahs, as well as not so long and more roughly serrated fangs. Smilodons became extinct 10,000 years ago, which means they lived at the same time as humans and may have hunted them.
Saber-toothed tigers are formidable and dangerous predators of the cat family, completely extinct in ancient times. hallmark these animals had upper fangs of impressive size, shaped like sabers. What is known about saber-toothed cats by modern scientists? Were these animals tigers? What did they look like, how did they get used to living, and why did they disappear? Let's fast forward through the thickness of the centuries - to those times when huge ferocious cats, going hunting, confidently walked the planet with the gait of true animal kings ...
Cat or tiger?
First of all, it should be noted that the term "saber-toothed tigers", which seems so familiar, is actually incorrect.
Subfamily known to biological science saber-toothed cats(Machairodontinae). However, with tigers, these ancient animals have exceptionally little common features. In the first and second, the proportions and structure of the body differ significantly, the lower jaws are connected to the skull in different ways. In addition, the striped "brindle" coloring is not typical for any of the saber-toothed cats. Their way of life is also different from that of tigers: paleontologists suggest that these animals were not loners, living and hunting in prides, like lions.
However, since the term "saber-toothed tigers" is used almost everywhere, and even in the scientific literature, we will also use this beautiful allegory below.
Tribes of saber-toothed cats
Until 2000, the subfamily of saber-toothed cats, or machairodonts (Machairodontinae), united three large tribes.
Representatives of the first tribe, Machairodontini (sometimes also called Homoterini), are distinguished by exceptionally large upper canines, wide and serrated with inside. When hunting, predators relied more on the impact of this crushing "weapon" than on the bite. The smallest cats of the Machairod tribe were commensurate with a small modern leopard, the largest exceeded the size of a very large tiger.
The saber-toothed tigers of the second tribe, Smilodontini, are characterized by longer upper canine teeth, but they were much narrower and not as serrated as those of the Machairods. Their downward fangs attack was the most deadly and perfect among the representatives of all saber-toothed cats. As a rule, smilodons were the size of an Amur tiger or lion, however American mind this predator belongs to the glory of the largest saber-toothed cat in history.
The third tribe, Metailurini, is the most ancient. That is why the teeth of these animals are, as it were, a "transitional stage" between the fangs of ordinary and saber-toothed cats. It is believed that they separated from other machairodonts quite early, and their evolution took place somewhat differently. Due to the rather weak expression of the "saber-toothed" signs, representatives of this tribe began to be attributed directly to the cats, considering them "small cats", or "pseudo-saber-toothed". Since 2000, this tribe is no longer included in the subfamily of interest to us.
Saber tooth period
Saber-toothed cats inhabited the Earth quite for a long time- more than twenty million years, appearing for the first time in the early Miocene and finally disappearing in the late Pleistocene period. During all this time, they gave rise to many genera and species, significantly differing in appearance and size. However, hypertrophied upper fangs (in some species they could reach more than twenty centimeters in length) and the ability to open their mouths very widely (sometimes even one hundred and twenty degrees!) Traditionally made up their common features.
Where did saber-toothed cats live?
These animals were characterized by an ambush attack. Having pressed the victim to the ground with powerful front paws or dug into her throat, the saber-toothed tiger instantly cut her carotid artery and trachea. The accuracy of the bite was the main weapon of this predator - after all, fangs stuck in the bones of prey could break. Such a mistake would be fatal for an unfortunate predator, depriving him of the ability to hunt and thereby dooming him to death.
Why did saber-toothed cats become extinct?
During the Pleistocene, or "Ice Age", which spanned the period from two million to twenty-five to ten thousand years ago, many large mammals gradually disappeared - cave bears, woolly rhinos, giant sloths, mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. Why did this happen?
During the period glacial cooling many plants rich in proteins, which served as the usual food for giant herbivores, died out. At the end of the Pleistocene period, the climate on the planet became warmer and much drier. The forests were gradually replaced by open grassy prairies, but the new vegetation, adapted to the changed conditions, did not have the nutritional value of the former. Herbivorous sloths and mammoths gradually died out, not finding enough food. Accordingly, there were fewer animals that could be hunted by predators. Saber-toothed tiger, an ambush hunter for big game, turned out to be a hostage to the current situation. The peculiarities of the structure of its jaw apparatus did not allow it to prey on small animals, its massive build and short tail did not make it possible to catch up with swift-footed prey in open areas, which were becoming more numerous. The changed conditions led to the fact that the ancient tigers with saber fangs did not get a chance to survive. Slowly, but inexorably, all the varieties of these animals that exist in nature disappeared from the face of the Earth.
Without exception, all saber-toothed cats are completely extinct animals that did not leave direct descendants.
Machairods
Of all known to science representatives of saber-toothed cats, it was mahairod who most of all resembled a tiger. In nature, there were several types of mahairods, which had significant differences in appearance, but they were united by jagged edges of long upper fangs, shaped like "mahairs" - curved swords.
These ancient animals appeared in Eurasia about fifteen million years ago, and two million years have passed since their disappearance. The weight of the largest representatives of this tribe reached half a ton, and in size they were quite commensurate with modern horses. Archaeologists are convinced that the machairod was the largest wild cat of its time. Hunting large herbivores - rhinos and elephants, these animals quite successfully competed with others. large predators of his time dire wolves and cave bears. The Machairods became the "progenitors" of more perfect look saber-toothed cats - Homotherium.
Homotheria
It is believed that these saber-toothed cats appeared about five million years ago at the turn of the Miocene and Pleistocene. They were distinguished by a more slender physique, vaguely resembling a modern lion. However, their hind legs were somewhat shorter than their front ones, which gave these predators some resemblance to a hyena. The upper fangs of Homotheres were shorter and wider than those of Smilodon - representatives of another tribe of saber-toothed cats that inhabited the Earth in parallel with them. In addition to this, the presence a large number notches on the fangs allowed scientists to conclude that these animals were capable of inflicting not only chopping, but also cutting blows with them.
Compared with other saber-toothed cats, Homotherium had a very high endurance, was adapted to long (though not fast) running and crossing long distances. There are suggestions that these now extinct animals led a solitary lifestyle. However, most researchers are still inclined to believe that Homotheres hunted in groups like other saber-toothed cats, since it was easier to kill stronger and larger prey this way.
Smilodons
Compared to other saber-toothed cats known to the ancient animal world Earth, Smilodon possessed a more powerful physique. The largest representative of saber-toothed cats - the smilodon populator that lived on the American continent - grew up to one hundred and twenty-five centimeters high at the withers, and its length from nose to tail could be two and a half meters. The fangs of this beast (together with the roots) reached twenty-nine centimeters in length!
Smilodon lived and hunted in prides, which included one or two dominant males, several females and young. The coloration of these animals could well be spotted, like a leopard. It is also possible that the males had a short mane.
Information about smilodon is contained in many scientific reference books and fiction, he acts as a character in films ("Portal jurassic"," Prehistoric Park") and cartoons ("Ice Age"). Perhaps this is the most famous animal of all, which are commonly called saber-toothed tigers.
Clouded leopard - a modern descendant of the saber-toothed tiger
Today it is considered that indirect, but the closest relative of Smilodon is the clouded leopard. It belongs to the subfamily Pantherinae (panther cats), within which it is allocated to the genus Neofelis.
Its body is quite massive and compact at the same time - these features were also inherent in saber-toothed cats of antiquity. Among the representatives of modern cats, this beast has the longest fangs (both upper and lower) relative to its own size. In addition, the jaws of this predator are able to open 85 degrees, which is much more than any other modern cat.
Not being a direct descendant of saber-toothed cats, the clouded leopard is a clear proof that the method of hunting with the use of deadly "fangs-sabers" may well be used by a predator in modern times.
They are teetering on the brink of extinction due to destruction of ecological systems and loss of habitat. In the following paragraphs of the article, you will learn about 10 extinct species of tigers and lions that have disappeared from the face of the Earth over the past few thousand years.
Despite its name, the American cheetah had more in common with cougars than with modern cheetahs. His slender, lithe body, like that of a cheetah, is most likely the result of convergent evolution(the tendency of heterogeneous organisms to adopt similar body shapes and behaviors when developed under similar conditions). In the case of Miracinonyx, grassy plains North America and Africa had almost identical conditions, which played a role in the appearance of outwardly similar animals. American cheetahs became extinct at the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, possibly due to human encroachment on their territory.
As with the American cheetah (see previous paragraph), the relationship of the American lion to modern lions is a matter of much debate. According to some reports, this predator of the Pleistocene era is more closely related to tigers and jaguars. american lion coexisted and competed with other superpredators of those times, such as the saber-toothed tiger, giant short-faced bear and dire wolf.
If the American lion was actually a subspecies of the lion, then it was the largest of its kind. Some alpha males reached a mass of up to 500 kg.
As you might guess from the name of the animal, the Bali tiger was native to the Indonesian island of Bali, where the last individuals died out only about 50 years ago. For thousands of years, the Bali tiger has been at odds with the indigenous human settlements in Indonesia. However, the neighborhood with local tribes did not pose a serious threat to these tigers until the arrival of the first European traders and mercenaries who ruthlessly hunted Bali tigers for sport and sometimes to protect their animals and homesteads.
One of the most formidable subspecies of the lion was the Barbary lion - a valuable property of medieval British lords who wanted to intimidate their peasants. Several large individuals made their way from North Africa to the zoo located in the Tower of London, where many British aristocrats were previously imprisoned and executed. The male Barbary lions had particularly thick manes, and reached a mass of about 500 kg, which made them one of the largest lions ever to live on Earth.
There is a high likelihood of a resurgence of the Barbary lion subspecies in wild nature by selecting his offspring, scattered throughout the zoos of the world.
The Caspian lion has a precarious position in the classification of big cats. Some naturalists argue that these lions should not be classified as a separate subspecies, considering the Kaispi lion to be simply a geographical offshoot of the still extant Transvaal lion. In fact, it is very difficult to distinguish a single subspecies from isolated population. In any case, the last specimens of these representatives of big cats became extinct at the end of the 19th century.
6. Turan tiger, or Transcaucasian tiger, or Caspian tiger
Of all the big cats that have become extinct in the last 100 years, the Turanian tiger had the most geographical distribution, ranging from Iran to the vast, windswept steppes of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The greatest damage to this subspecies was caused by Russian empire, which bordered on the habitats of the Caspian tiger. Tsarist officials encouraged the destruction of the Turanian tigers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
As with the Barbary lion, the Caspian tiger can be reintroduced into the wild through selective breeding of its offspring.
Probably, the cave lion, along with the saber-toothed tiger, is one of the most famous extinct big cats. Oddly enough, but cave lions did not live in caves. They got their name because many fossils of these lions have been found in the caves of Europe, visited by sick or dying individuals.
An interesting fact is that paleontologists attribute as many as three subspecies to the European lion: Panthera leo europaea, Panthera leo tartarica and Panthera leo fossilis. They are combined relatively big sizes bodies (some males weighed about 200 kg, females were slightly smaller) and susceptibility to encroachment and seizure of territories by representatives of the early European civilization: for example, European lions often participated in gladiator fights in the arenas of ancient Rome.
Javan tiger, like his close relative the Bali tiger (see point 3) was limited to one island in the Malay Archipelago. Despite relentless hunting, the main reason for the extinction of the Javan tiger was the loss of habitat due to the rapid growth of the human population in the 19th and 20th centuries.
The last Javan tiger was seen in the wild decades ago. Given the overpopulation of the island of Java, no one has high hopes for the restoration of this subspecies.
10. Smilodon (saber-toothed tiger)
FROM scientific point sight of smilodon, it has nothing to do with modern tigers. However, given its overall popularity, the saber-toothed tiger deserves a mention in this list of extinct big cats. The saber-toothed tiger was one of the most dangerous predators Pleistocene era, capable of sinking its huge fangs into the neck of large mammals of those times.
Before man climbed to the top of the food chain, wild cats were the strongest and most successful hunters. Even today, these huge predators cause fear and at the same time admiration in a person who is not their competitor in hunting. And yet, prehistoric cats were much better in every way, especially when it comes to hunting. Today's article presents the 10 largest prehistoric felines.
The prehistoric cheetah belongs to the same genus as today's cheetahs. His appearance was very similar to the appearance of the modern cheetah, but its ancestor was many times larger. The giant cheetah was more like a modern lion in size, because its weight sometimes reached 150 kilograms, so the cheetah easily hunted larger animals. According to some reports, the ancient cheetahs were able to accelerate at speeds up to 115 kilometers per hour. The wild cat lived on the territory of modern Europe and Asia, but could not survive the ice age.
This dangerous animal does not exist today, but there was a time when xenosmilus, along with other predatory cats, headed the food chain of the planet. Outwardly, he very much resembled a saber-toothed tiger, but unlike him, xenosmilus had much shorter teeth, which were similar to those of a shark or predatory dinosaur. The formidable predator hunted from an ambush, after which he instantly killed the prey, tearing off pieces of meat from it. Xenosmilus was very large, sometimes its weight reached 230 kilograms. Little is known about the animal's habitat. The only place where it was possible to find his remains is Florida.
Currently, jaguars do not differ in particularly large sizes, as a rule, their weight is only 55-100 kilograms. As it turned out, they were not always so. In the distant past, the modern territory of South and North America was filled with giant jaguars. Unlike the modern jaguar, they had longer tails and limbs, and their size was several times larger. According to scientists, the animals lived on the open plains along with lions and some other wild cats, and as a result of constant rivalry, they were forced to change their place of residence to more woodlands. The size of a giant jaguar was equated to a modern tiger.
If the giant jaguars belonged to the same genus as modern ones, then the European jaguars belonged to a completely different one. Unfortunately, today it is still not known what the European jaguar looked like, but some information about it is still known. For example, scientists claim that the weight of this cat was more than 200 kilograms, and the habitat was such countries as Germany, England, the Netherlands, France and Spain.
Such a lion is considered a subspecies of the lion. Cave lions were incredibly large, and their weight reached 300 kilograms. Scary Predators lived in Europe after the ice age, where they were considered among the most dangerous creatures planets. Some sources say that these animals were sacred animals, so they were worshiped by many peoples, and perhaps they were simply afraid. Scientists have repeatedly found various figurines and drawings depicting a cave lion. It is known that cave lions did not have a mane.
One of the most feared and dangerous representatives of wild cats of prehistoric times is Homotherium. The predator lived in the countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, South and North America. The animal adapted so well to the climate of the tundra that it could live for more than 5 million years. The appearance of Homotherium was markedly different from the appearance of all wild cats. The front limbs of this giant were much longer than the hind limbs, which made it look like a hyena. This structure suggests that Homotherium did not jump very well, especially in contrast to modern cats. Although homoteria cannot be called the most, its weight reached a record 400 kilograms. This suggests that the beast was larger than even a modern tiger.
The appearance of the mahairod is similar to the appearance of the tiger, but it is much larger, with a longer tail and huge fangs-knives. Whether he had the characteristic stripes of a tiger is still not known. The remains of mahairod were found in Africa, which indicates its place of residence, in addition, archaeologists are convinced that this wild cat was one of the largest of those times. The weight of mahairod reached half a ton, and in size it resembled a modern horse. Rhinos, elephants and other large herbivores formed the basis of the predator's diet. According to most scholars, the appearance of the Mahairod is most accurately shown in the film of 10,000 BC.
Of all the prehistoric wild cats known to mankind, the American lion is the second most famous after the Smilodon. Lions lived on the territory of modern Northern and South America, and died out about 11 thousand years ago at the very end of the ice age. Many scientists are convinced that this giant predator was related to today's lion. The weight of an American lion could reach 500 kilograms. There is a lot of controversy about his hunting, but most likely the beast hunted alone.
The most mysterious animal from the entire list was in second place among the largest cats. This tiger is not separate view most likely he is distant relative modern tiger. These giants lived in Asia, where they hunted very large herbivores. Everyone knows that today tigers are the largest representatives of the cat family, but such large tigers as in prehistoric times are not even close today. The Pleistocene tiger was unusually large sizes, and according to the remains found, he even lived in Russia.
Most famous representative cat families of prehistoric times. Smilodon had huge teeth similar to sharp knives, and a muscular body with short legs. His body slightly resembled the body modern bear, although he did not have the clumsiness that a bear has. The amazingly built body of a predator allowed him to run at high speed even over long distances. Smilodons died out about 10 thousand years ago, which means that they lived at the same time as humans, and possibly even hunted them. Scientists believe that smilodons attacked the victim from an ambush.
