| Pelage: Regarding pelage, the liger tends to have an interesting blend of both of it's parent species. The coat tends to be a tawny, golden colour much like the leonine father's, yet it is most often striped with a 'candle flame' pattern in a rich orangish brown.
Many ligers' facial markings are very tiger-like as well, often posessing a bit of black.
The occurence of a leonine mane in males is apparently a bit rare, and many still seem to look like a lioness, lacking even a tiger's broad cheek ruff. |
| Breeding: Ligers most commonly occur within an artificial environment, with the mating pair matched up by a human's efforts.
In the wild, lions live predominantly in Africa, with a small population of Asiatic lions in India (Panthera leo persica), whereas tigers are solely Asian in distribution.
This leaves India to be the only place where lions and tigers may share common or neighboring territories, yet it is still virtually unheard of that they would interbreed under the normal conditions in the wild. |
| Size: Theoretically, one could compare the liger to the great cats that are believed to have been the predecessors to the modern lion and tiger.
The North American Cave Lion (Panthera atrox) and European Cave Lion in particular were reportedly at least 25% larger in body dimensions (height and length) than either of the existing modern species.
Perhaps the liger offers a glimpse into the past along the evolutionary progress of the modern great cats. |
| Author's note: With a (untrue) species of cat such as the liger, where the individuals show so few consistencies, it is very difficult to draw up any definitive data aside from what little is supplied by private owners. |
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