Archive for September, 2009

Some believe that the Saber-Toothed Cats, impressive prehistoric big cats disappeared long ago, went extinct because the evolution of their canines too such length that they no longer could hunt, bite and eat. It’s really wrong; The animal had an astonishing capacity to crack his mouth wide-open, giving it a strong hook to catch a prey, as you can see in the following animation which allows a comparison with the modern lion anatomy:

All the details on Saber-Toothed Cats anatomy are on HowStuffWorks.

This is the name given to a big cat seen about 10 years ago around Anamudi, the highest peak south of the Himalayas: Pogeyan cat. Being uniformly greyish, it was not photographed or filmed, but people try and identify it anyway. Based on the propensity of all panthers and leopards to produce strong variations in the color of their coat, it could be a genetic variation of a local leopard. More about this on Tetrapodzoology.

Cobweb panthers

See also: Mutant Leopards.

Tambako The Jaguar is the pseudo of a photographer that brings a large number of animal pictures to Flickr. Despite the fact that most of them are photos shot in zoos, let’s appreciate the nice work with big cats, starting with snow leopards.

Eugène Delacroix – “Tiger hunt”
Oil on canvas 73,5 x 92,5 cm – Musée d’Orsay, Paris

Eugène Delacroix - Tiger hunt - Musée d'Orsay, Paris