The Largest Cat To Ever Exist - American Lion

What a mighty meow-meow

Crazy to imagine the competition this animal had to face during this time. (European Cave lion) Panthera Spelaea, North American Jaguar, Homotherium, Smilodon fatalis, American Cheetah(although it’s more cougar like), Dire Wolves, North American Dhole, North American Short faced bear, Giant Polar Bear(Ursus Maritimus Tyrannus). Then of course morden day species that survived the ice age like the Brown Bear and their various subspecies, American black bears, Modern day Cougars, Grey Wolves, Eurasian Lynx, modern polar bears and coyotes.Must of been a sight to see

Actually, the American lion is rare at the tar pits is because that it lived in more open habitat on the tar pits are in forested areas. The short face bear was also a rare animal at the tar pit as well.

Never thought i would hear about a lion that was more then half a ton , that is epic .

Holy moly. That's a scary cat. Glad I don't live along side it. Between it in the savannah areas and that big ass bear in the wooded areas, it's a wonder humans survived in the Americas at all.

The first humans to enter the Americas really did have their hands full when it comes to predators. Fascinating

I had heard of the American Lion but this is the first time I've seen any in-depth video about them. I hope you've got videos about the other, lesser-known, American felines, the American cheetah and the American leopard or, if you don't have them already, I hope you intend to make videos about them in the near future.

The American lion (Panthera atrox) is the largest Panthera species in terms of average sizes, and alongside Smilodon populator is a contender for the title of largest cat ever. Weight estimates range from between 800 to 1000 pounds. While overall similar to a lion, there were some anatomical differences; American lions had relatively longer legs (in fact, they’re the most cursorial of all Panthera species, though they still likely relied heavily on ambush), and their skull and jaws were far more powerfully built, almost resembling a greatly enlarged jaguar in head shape. Presumably, this means that American lions had the same crushing bite as a jaguar, albeit on a much larger scale. In fact, there was some speculation that American lions were more closely related to jaguars, but genetic studies have disproven this. Since the American lion was closely related to the lion, and is even more closely related to-in fact, likely descended from-the cave lion (Panthera spelea), we can extrapolate some details of its paleobiology and behaviour. It was almost certainly an animal of grasslands and open woodland, and almost certainly preyed mostly on large ungulates using ambush tactics (though, as mentioned above, they would be able to sprint for somewhat longer distances than lions due to proportionately longer legs). Due to their large size they would likely be able to tackle bison or mammoth calves singlehandedly, and if they were social (see below) they may even have taken down adult woolly mammoths in rare cases. There is some question as to how social American lions would be compared to lions; it’s inferred that cave lions were less social than lions, living either alone or in much smaller prides depending on the location. American lions are likely descended from the easternmost population of cave lions, which were likely more social than other populations, so it’s possible to assume that American lions lived in small prides of one male and a few females. Since they were probably less social than lions, American lions also likely had much smaller (possibly nonexistent) manes compared to lions.

Really well done and informative! As a fan-boy of the pleistocene epoch, I already knew most of the information except that a preserved piece of flesh with hair has been recovered. In my humble opinion, this cat was almost certainly solitary in nature - similar to the vast majority of extant panthera. The largest members of Atrox must have been nothing short of awesome.

Thank you for taken the time to make the videos, I enjoy watching & getting new knowledge about prehistoric life

The bite force of the American lion wasn’t 3 times greater than an Morden lion because the bite force of a morden lion is about 1000psi not the 650 psi that was done on a sub adult.

The American Lion and Smilodon are by far my favorite prehistoric mammals and are really cool so I'm happy there's a video on it and as a suggestion could you do Pachyrhinosaurus next

It seems the title of largest cat ever has been shifting due to newer analysis. Smilodon populator, Amphimachairodus kabir and Ngandong tiger (Panthera tigris soloensis) were either given the title as largest cat ever or considered a contender for the title.

Very well done, especially the graphics. My favorite illustration is the one including a VW Beatle and a human silhouette!

Good Saturday morning lesson - I am seventy one and i can't get enough of this stuff. It fires my imagination - I love learning.

Just binged the last like 8 videos you posted. Excellent timing with this upload lol

This vid is FULL of interesting and is very educational. Really one of the best Youtube vids on extinct animals that I've seen, and I've seen many. Good job!

My favorite extinct cat species do one on Cave Lions or Cave Bears next! Please love your videos btw

This guys videos are great gets straight to the point tells you some interesting information and doesn't drag out into a 30 min plus video. Top notch work .

This channels so awesome. I’ve always been an environmental and animal geek (tho I don’t retain much information). Read books and explored outdoors in the early 2000s. This channel’s content always tickles my still present curiosity.