{"id":1077,"date":"2024-02-26T14:58:23","date_gmt":"2024-02-26T22:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/?p=1077"},"modified":"2025-08-05T22:12:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T05:12:13","slug":"roaring-vs-purring-or-what-is-a-big-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/roaring-vs-purring-or-what-is-a-big-cat\/","title":{"rendered":"Roaring vs Purring&#8230; Or, What Is a Big Cat?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>While the terms &#8220;big cats&#8221; and &#8220;little cats&#8221; seem straightforward size-based categories, they actually refer to <strong>two distinct evolutionary lineages<\/strong> within the Felidae (cat) family. These lineages are distinguished not just by size, but also by several key anatomical and behavioral features, including the ability to roar:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Big Cats (Panthera):<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Roarers:<\/strong>&nbsp;All &#8220;big cats&#8221; belong to the genus&nbsp;<strong>Panthera<\/strong>&nbsp;and possess the anatomical features necessary for&nbsp;<strong>roaring<\/strong>. These features include a flexible hyoid apparatus (a group of bones in the throat) and an enlarged larynx (voice box) with specific vocal folds.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Size and Build:<\/strong>\u00a0While generally larger than &#8220;little cats,&#8221; size isn&#8217;t the sole defining factor. Leopards, classified as big cats, can be smaller than some &#8220;little cats&#8221; like the cougar. Big cats tend to have a more\u00a0<strong>stocky build<\/strong>\u00a0and powerful jaws.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Habitat and Distribution:<\/strong>&nbsp;Found in Africa, Asia, and the Americas (only jaguars).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Other Characteristics:<\/strong>\u00a0Claws are retractable. Tend to be solitary hunters (except lions).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Little Cats (Felidae &#8211; excluding Panthera):<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Purrers:<\/strong>&nbsp;Cannot roar due to a different hyoid apparatus structure. However, they can purr, a sound produced by vibrations in the larynx.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Size and Build:<\/strong>&nbsp;Generally smaller than big cats, but exceptions exist. They exhibit a wider range of body shapes and sizes, including&nbsp;<strong>slender<\/strong>&nbsp;builds like cheetahs and&nbsp;<strong>stockier<\/strong>&nbsp;builds like bobcats.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Habitat and Distribution:<\/strong>&nbsp;Found worldwide except for Antarctica.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Other Characteristics:<\/strong>\u00a0Claws are retractable (except cheetahs, the only cat who does not retract their claws). Hunting strategies vary from solitary to social hunting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Points:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Roaring is not a size-related trait, but a specific anatomical adaptation present only in &#8220;big cats&#8221; (Panthera). <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;Big cats&#8221; are the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;Little cats&#8221; encompass a larger and more diverse group, including familiar felines like domestic cats, as well as large wild cats like cheetahs and cougars, and smaller wild cats like bobcats and Asian leopard cats.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Both &#8220;big cats&#8221; and &#8220;little cats&#8221; play crucial roles in their respective ecosystems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"451\" data-attachment-id=\"1078\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/roaring-vs-purring-or-what-is-a-big-cat\/big-cats-4s\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/big-cats-4s.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"800,451\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"big-cats-4s\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/big-cats-4s.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/big-cats-4s.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1078\" style=\"width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/big-cats-4s.jpg 800w, https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/big-cats-4s-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/big-cats-4s-768x433.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Further Exploration:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Cat Chat 101: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/carnegiemnh.org\/cat-chat-101-the-basics-of-domestic-and-wild-vocalizations\/\">The Basics of Domestic and Wild Vocalizations<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.petcarerx.com\/article\/what-makes-small-cats-different-from-big-cats\/3181\">What Makes Small Cats Different From Big Cats?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-2571651847880215\"\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\n<!-- banner ad -->\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2571651847880215\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"7178535257\"\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While the terms &#8220;big cats&#8221; and &#8220;little cats&#8221; seem straightforward size-based categories, they actually refer to two distinct evolutionary lineages within the Felidae (cat) family. These lineages are distinguished not&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,144,145,34],"tags":[143,26,46,36,31],"class_list":["post-1077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animal-bytes","category-animal-face-offs","category-animal-faq","category-animal-tales","tag-animal-comparisons","tag-animal-facts","tag-big-cats","tag-cats","tag-wild-animals"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/leo-animal-savannah-lioness-55814.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1077"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1077\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1080,"href":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1077\/revisions\/1080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animalpages.com\/animals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}