r/leopards • u/Consistent-Twist6388 • 5h ago
Persian Leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) The skull of a Persian leopard next to a Caucasian lynx, Asiatic cheetah and a Caspian tigress
As you can see, the leopard's sagittal crest is weak, which is common in adult female leopards or sub-adult males. We don't know anything about the skulls so this is speculation. Just to be clear before some people are going to freak out.Â
What about a skull from an actual adult male?
We can use the longest Persian leopard skull that belonged to a male from Golestan National Park. Why this particular skull? Because Dr Farhadinia (Persian leopard) said "The measurements indicate that the animal has been as large as an adult female tiger which once occurred within Golestan National Park" The measurements were 281.35 mm in length and 178.95 mm in width, a total score of 18.12"

Is this skull Caspian tigress-sized?
MazĂĄk gave a range of 255.5 - 297.0 mm for Caspian tigresses' skull length (average 284.29 mm). Their skull width range was 183.0 â 219.0 mm (average 197,33 mm). He measured a total of 10 skulls. The average skull score is 18.96"

Was the male leopard as large as an adult Caspian tigress?Â
With a weight range of 85-135kg and based on skull data; the Caspian tigress is/was overall the bigger animal, there's no debate. But there is a very clear overlap. Given that 110kg is the midpoint of their weight range and the leopard skull is smaller than average for a Caspian tigress but bigger than small adult ones, the leopard skull belonged to a huge male in the 90-100kg range.