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JakeSutton7 — Largest of the Felidae

Published: 2019-07-02 01:48:07 +0000 UTC; Views: 8172; Favourites: 57; Downloads: 0
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Description Well hello kitty!
As requested by a friend here are the 7 largest cats that ever lived. Pound for pound these animals are stronger then bears and if a tiger can haul a horse over a 6 foot stone wall I can't imagine how strong some of these cats would be.

Skeletals and references by: Leonel, Anton, Roman Uchytel, diloraptor and smeerjevski
 
As usual lets go through them
Amphimachairodus kabir (African Sabertooth)
Here is a big cat, this giant dwarfed any modern lion alive today and likely occupied the same niche although perhaps more tiger like in terms of social structure. Their sabers were not as impressive as their later kin but would still have been deadly weapons when used on large megafauna. At one point this genus was suspected to grow to over 1000 pounds, but understanding cat anatomy better reveals a smaller weight (still nothing to snuff out)

Machairodus horribilis (Giant Sabertooth)
Here it is, the undisputed heaviest cat of all time. Weighing almost 900 pounds and perhaps pushing 1000 this monster from China was a close relative of the Smilodon. Its massive size likely meant it was going after very large game which it would dispatch with its long teeth and very strong muscles. Imagine these cats running around at wildlife parks

Panthera Atrox (American Lion)
While not the heaviest this lion was indeed the tallest member of the cat family (even if by a slim margin). These giant cats were the largest ever to live in North America and perhaps gave the Smilodons a run for their money. Many of their fossils have been found in the La Brea tarpits although to a lesser extent then the other carnivores like wolves and smilodons. This suggests they were likely not as populous as the others. It is not confirmed if they were as social as modern lions but new research is leaning into that favor.

Smilodon populator (South American Sabertooth)
Here he is, half tooth in all his glory and man oh man is he a big kitty. S. populator was the largest smilodont known and is a South American exclusive in fact its the largest cat found in South America. They have been known to feed on just about any megafauna in the area and believe it or not Megatherium made up a good portion of their diet....let that sink in.

Smilodon fatalis (North American Sabertooth)
When it comes to Smilodon 9/10 this is the genus people will refer to. These guys were stupidly common in the La Brea tarpits and they have a range that extended all the way from Canada into Northern South America. They likely had a range similar to precolonial Mountain Lions. Their signature sabers were actually stronger then what may have been suspected before able to withstand bone on tooth impacts and could even be driven into the skulls of other Smilodon as demonstrated by actual fossilized proof.

Panthera spalaea fossilis (Giant Cave Lion)
A member of the famous cave lion genus this giant cat was once attributed to the modern lion species though that has now been changed based on better research. Given their size these cats could eat whatever they wanted including the Woolly Rhino. Ranging from Germany to Russia these cats had a very broad range likely living not too far from the great megafauna. Despite their common name these cats likely didn't live in caves, in fact we have fossil evidence that suggest they were actually hunting the sleeping cave bears inside. Similar behavior has been observed today in Amur tigers. 

Panthera tigris soloensis (Ngandong Tiger)
These giant cats were larger then the Siberian tigers alive today. Living through the Indonesian islands (which would've been a landmass back then) these stealthy cats were the dominate predators at the time and likely preyed on the giant ape Gigantopithecus and perhaps the babies and juvenile individuals of Paleoloxodon namadicus. They would've eventually crossed paths with people and if they were anything like modern tigers they would've been a major threat.
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Comments: 11

JeongHyojij [2024-08-23 07:26:06 +0000 UTC]

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dinosauredusud [2022-12-13 18:58:30 +0000 UTC]

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Tigerstar82 [2022-07-13 00:54:25 +0000 UTC]

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ghashogh [2022-07-11 22:39:01 +0000 UTC]

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IG88B [2021-05-16 08:04:34 +0000 UTC]

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TheMorlock [2021-02-14 07:45:50 +0000 UTC]

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HunterClass1 [2021-02-04 07:22:04 +0000 UTC]

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JakeSutton7 In reply to HunterClass1 [2021-02-13 05:15:32 +0000 UTC]

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Tigerstar82 [2020-11-24 18:27:33 +0000 UTC]

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Pendragon276 [2019-07-12 05:44:46 +0000 UTC]

Seems to be 3 categories noticeable here : Hefty, Chonk and absolute unit

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ForbiddenParadise64 [2019-07-03 08:44:03 +0000 UTC]

Nice chart, though is surprised the normal cave lion isn’t on this, with being up to 317kg. For comparison the largest fully verified Siberian tiger was weighted at 306kg.

I’ve heard the estimate for Machairodus horridus comes from dubious data, so I’m not sure on that one. 


Have you heard of the Natodomeri lion? Supposedly it was similar in size to the largest cave lions. 

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