Katanga Lion and Lioness Size

I find lionesses fascinating, and not just because if how they scale up.
As far as dimorphism among felines (and arguably carnivora overall), they are clearly on the extreme end. Aside from the obvious difference of manes (the basis of some interesting research in itself), lionesses are smaller and have a slightly different physique; this in turn gives it a different swathe of advantages (tires far less easily than males) and disadvantages (physically weaker than males; though still ridiculously strong for an animal of her size). As a result, lionesses tend to be better at stalking and subduing smaller, faster prey animals and males (who actually are capable of hunting) will often opt for the big, heavy animals where extra weight and strength come in handy. That said, these preferences aren't exactly truly separate niches; both tend to like the same broad range of prey options- merely either sex will bias more to one end of the spectrum than the other. And of course, sometimes a group of males and females will simply work together. I've seen footage of lionesses bowling down adult buffalo (note, by "bowling down" I mean "run at it and knock it sideways by sheer force"), and lions have been known to attack and kill elephants.

Next, onto size;
The human is, as always, 1.8m tall (exactly 6 feet).
I should point out that the smaller male is the size people typically use when comparing an "African Lion" to other animals. This is arguably a fair average size; but it's definitely not unusual for lions around this area to exceed it. And no, this is NOT an extinct lion subspecies; they're a living, modern species that lives all around the southwestern part of Africa.
The sizes on the "right" side of the page are the typical larger sizes. I can say for certain this is not unusual- in fact, their eastern neighbours- the Transvaal lions (or "Kruger Lions") grow slightly taller and longer than this. The faded gigantic male was from the Guiness Book of World Records (cited via wikipedia), so if you're a little skeptical, fair enough.
You might remember the proportions of the third-largest feline living; the Pantanal Jaguar. A typical "very large" male reaches a length and shoulder height that is much less than the smaller lioness on this image; even when you consider lions have longer limbs for their size than most other panthers- it remains simply that lions are much bigger felines. You might recall the other jaguar reaching a more terrifying size; very close to the smaller male lion you can see here. Compared to tigers or prehistoric cats... I'd say it'd be a very close call, at least. A glance at the length and proportions puts it very close to the competition (and in some ways, ahead), though on the flipside, lions tend to be a lot leaner than these other great felines. What I find interesting is how all of these animals seem to grow to a size that reaches the same upper weight limits (roughly 400kg- either long and lean, or short and stocky).

But that will be a chart for another time.