Category: Lion

Jaws, on firm ground

Feline teeth are their most prominent exterior feature. Since the prehistoric Smilodon (the smiling feline) and its gigantic canines, big cats use their impressive dental characteristics to hunt. On the Laelaps web site, you will find a detaileld article on feline teeth, from yesterday to nowadays: What big teeth you have. Please, also notice the…

Cheetahs and elephants roaming free in USA

Yesterday, we were speaking here about prehistoric big cats in places where they disappeared (e.g. Europe). Today, I want to point at a surprising proposal made by Josh Donlan. Recognizing that many big cats were roaming in North America tens of thousands of years ago, he want to re-introduce lions, cheetahs, elephants and other large…

Cheetahs, pumas and jaguars of Europe

Found on Tretrapod Zoology, a series of articles about prehistoric felines among which one can find big cats like lions, pumas, jaguars, cougars, cheetahs or leopards on continents where they totally disappeared later. Europe, where the sabre-tooths, lions and leopards are Pumas of South Africa, cheetahs of France, jaguars of England