Male Lion Size

SECOND UPDATE- now with an illustrated background RULER built in, and the most refined tweaks ('smaller' lion was slightly too big). Note that the 'large' version now slightly exceeds two meters in head-body length to match the 1.2m shoulder height (measured by the ruler tool following the angle of the forelimb- hence why the lions appear to be SHORTER than the 90cm and 120cm horizontals).

THIRD UPDATE- augmented description to include rough lengths measured- also a note some lions can grow slightly larger (125cm tall at the shoulder- same source as below)

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally back after hibernation.
I've wanted to get this one done for a very long time (and my first chart portraying a modern-day tetrapod!)
The first in my series of big cats (will include the Lioness, the Siberian Tiger, the Jaguar, the Ngandong Tiger (and possibly the Bengal), and prehistoric cats like Panthera Atrox (the American Lion), Smilodon Fatalis and Smilodon Populator.

First things first- where I got my info: the lower (average) estimates are pretty commonly displayed over various zoological sites, as well as a scientific paper from the 30s measuring large fauna. While I was suspicious of the larger estimates (120cm at the shoulder), I was surprised to learn from scientific studies they are true- finding a few scientific papers that measured wild lions reaching that height. In some regions it's not even particularly rare for wild lions to grow that large.

Anyway, as for technique- horribly unsatisfied with the lion I did in my April Fools preview, I grabbed a large number of photos of lions and started to carefully use them as cross-comparisons; learning particularly how to depict the mane (I also found the face REALLY comes together with the simple black and white markings around the eye). I used the 'warp' tool to click and drag the proportions into their correct shape, conforming to the standard lion 'walking' pose as possible (fortunately, there is an abundance of photos of this animal walking, in this exact position; so it was easy to get an average pose with some accuracy. And of course I resized the head to be as close as the pictures as possible (the original head was absolutely tiny). Strangely, it was the front shoulder that proved the trickiest to get right (the original version was way out of proportion, so I was careful to research correct photos).

Lioness coming soon (a worthwhile edition- the dimorphism is so great between them they almost function as different species, with many great advantages the lioness has over her heavier male counterpart).