Comments on: Friday My Cat Is Bigger-Blogging

By: Michael Petrarca

Michael Petrarca — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:28:45 +0000

You mention the possible short manes of American lions, but I also heard some cave paintings have shown stripes (or perhaps that was the cave lion?), is this true? Oh, and how tall did American lions get? Weren’t they like as tall as people (tall enough to look an adult human in the eyes)?

By: Dan

Dan — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 14:35:54 +0000

I don’t mean to flood your posts with comments but i wish i could comment them all, this time I’ve got a question about your choice for the mane of p. leo atrox. You’ve chosen to put quite a thick mane around It’s neck (even though its still thinner than the African lion mane). My question is why did you choose to give it a “Mane” in the first place? I’ve seen a picture of a cave lion that you rendered leaping in the air (I think it was you who made it). The picture of the cave lion showed a ruff of hair on the neck and belly, but it was definitely not a mane like the illustration of the atrox lion shown here. If the species of lion diverged into the two subgroups of African/South Eurasian and North Eurasian/North American types… than shouldn’t there be some consistency about their appearances? IE — mane-less Northern-group lions, and maned Southern-group lions. There are of course many many more factors that would determine if a lion might or might not have had a mane (and i know that evolution and adaptation don’t have to be consistent) but I’m sure you’ve already thought about all of this, so i really just want to know why you chose to make it slightly closer in appearance to an African lion, than to your illustration of a European lion.

By: Lili

Lili — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 20:09:42 +0000

Oh my God.
Lovely!
So glad I found this Blog.
Your American Lion is gorgeous.
The brain size thing is intruiging. Would love to have been able to see them alive and in action (albeit not as a meal)!
Have you ever though about portraying a Thylacoleo Carnifex or Thylacosmilus?

By: Joao Rio

Joao Rio — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 18:15:57 +0000

Wow! You should draw an American Lion attacking an Ice Age Bison!!!!

By: Velou

Velou — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 07:01:14 +0000

The lion is very beautiful. And il like american lion.

This giant species of lion hunt Bison (priscus, antiquus), juvenil Mammoth (Mammuthus) and ancient elk (Cervidae =} Cervus elaphus canadensis).

Sorry for orthograph, I’m not say very spike english because I’m french.

By: Nicolás

Nicolás — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 05:16:02 +0000

El león americano es un 25% más grande que un león actual (panthera leo massaicus), estamos hablando de aproximadamente 310 kilos.
Un peso similar a los más grandes tigres siberianos.

Daniel:
Los tigres datan de unos 2 millones de años, por otra parte los leones aparecieron hace unos 1,6 millones de años.

By: Danniel

Danniel — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 20:27:59 +0000

I’m happy I’ve found this blog.

But one question: lions and *jaguars* (ranging from South America up to Florida, at least recently), at least split later than lions and tigers, or lions and *african* leopards??

Anyway, if that’s correct, then when when did leopards split? Yet later than lions and tigers?

I’ve been having some weird ideas about speciation some time ago, in which the more recent split between leopards and lions wouldn’t look weird; but I wasn’t expecting that. But I guess that it works more or less the same way with jaguars, just remembering that lions once were in America too…

By: AmurBrownBear

AmurBrownBear — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 23:36:14 +0000

Lions, tigers and bears all have their outsized fossil records because plenty of megafaunas in Pleistocene era have supported the food supplies of these mega large predators.

By: OGeorge

OGeorge — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 06:18:12 +0000

Jurek: The animal I portrayed is the North American Panthera leo atrox and not the European cave lion Panthera leo spelaea. These animals ranged much farther south in NA than their cousins did in Europe. As far as the cave representations go, they were very good, but as with most primitive art, they tended to emphasize things the way a caricaturist might exaggerate the features of a human face. Suggest yes, but tightly base a rendering on…(?)

By: Hungry Hyaena

Hungry Hyaena — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 20:32:59 +0000

I love that you actually studied cave paintings/carvings for physiological clues, Carl…and I continue to be impressed by your wealth of knowledge. Is it all on hand - or rather, in head - or do you also maintain some sort of filing system?