Leopard vs. Jaguaress

[dinosauria101]

Leopard - Panthera pardus
The leopard, Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its range of distribution has decreased radically because of hunting and loss of habitat. It is now chiefly found in sub-Saharan Africa; there are also fragmented populations in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Malaysia, and China. Because of its declining range and population, it is listed as a "Near Threatened" species by the IUCN. Leopard are agile and stealthy predators. Although smaller than other members of the Panthera genus, they are able to take large prey due to their massive skulls that facilitate powerful jaw muscles. Head and body length is between 125 and 165 cm (49 and 65 in), and the tail reaches 60 to 110 cm (24 to 43 in). Shoulder height is 45 to 80 cm (18 to 31 in). The muscles attached to the scapula are exceptionally strong, which enhance their ability to climb trees. They show a great diversity in size. Males are about 30% larger than females, weighing 30 to 91 kg (66 to 200 lb) compared to 23 to 60 kg (51 to 130 lb) for females. Large males of up to 91 kg have been documented in Kruger National Park in South Africa; however, males in the South Africa's coastal mountains average 31 kg. This wide variation in size is thought to result from the quality and availability of prey found in each habitat. Smaller sized leopards also are known in the deserts of the Middle East. Its body is comparatively long, and its legs are short.


aguaress - Panthera onca
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico across much of Central America and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. A short and stocky limb structure makes the jaguar adept at climbing, crawling and swimming. The head is robust and the jaw extremely powerful. The jaguar hunts wild animals weighing up to 300 kilograms (660 lb) in dense jungle, and its short and sturdy physique is thus an adaptation to its prey and environment. Female weight: 36 – 85 kg

Credit to Wikipedia

[rock]

i favor the jaguress here , she should be heavier in most cases and have a stronger bite force and she should be bigger too

[dinosauria101]

I actually favor the leopard. It's more robust compared to a jaguaress, and I find male leopards compare rather favorably to jaguaresses. But this is close.

[elosha11]

So the two cats' body size and capabilities may be a wash. Perhaps the jaguaress has the stronger bites, but male leopards can often have huge heads themselves. However, I wonder if the gender alone distinguishes them. As a male, the typical leopard probably has more experience in intraspecific conflicts than a jaguaress. That experience factor might be important, along with a male leopard's perhaps more natural inclination to fight in the first place. If anyone has any data suggesting how often these animals may fight, that may help better inform the discussion.

[dinosauria101]

There's some stuff in the Carnivora thread, I'll give the link. carnivora.net/showthread.php?tid=3438
I also heard from Leopard, Carnivora's expert on you-know-what that male leopards have good sized dewlaps, and I think that'd give the leopard an advantage

[elosha11]

There's actually a great post from a knowledgeable poster on carnivora named chui (no longer active there apparently) who cites very specific data indicating there is very little size difference between a large male leopard from South Africa and an average size jaguaress, which tend to be very comparable in size.

It's found on page 15 of the leopard v cougar thread. He cites statistical evidence that at comparable weights (jaguaress still being around 4 kgs heavier) the leopard will have a slightly larger head, more massive neck by around 4 cms circumference, but the jaguaress will have chest girth of around 91 cms compared to 86 cms for the leopard. Little difference in forearm size.

However, we must take such samples with a grain of salt because it appears the jaguaress was averaging all sizes of recorded individuals, while the above measurements for the leopard was the average of only large males. So the data's a bit skewed (only for purposes of this interspecific conflict thread) but it does show how the two cats would compare at similar adult weights.

The post also mentions that South African male leopards are usually smaller, on average, than other leopards from different parts of Africa, (I assume central Africa). If anyone has data from such supposedly larger leopard populations, please post it.

[dinosauria101]

^chui's still active on the current Carnivora from time to time.
Anyhow, yeah I could take a look. This info could be helpful for determining a winner.