Also how do they purr
2007-09-25 07:08:02 · 18 answers · asked by Tardis 2 in Pets ➔ Cats
I worked with lions, tigers, leopards and cougars at a big cat rescue for over 7 years. The big cats (all of the above listed except for the cougar, or mountain lion) CANNOT purr. They are in the family Panthera. They roar and cannot purr. They do make a lot of other vocalizations. Lions rumble, moan, huff, whine, roar, growl, snarl and when they are little cubs they bleat just like a goat. Tigers make the same noises and more. Tigers also have a special vocalization called a chuff or a poof. They expel breaths rapidly and it sounds a bit like a person doing a raspberry except deeper and slower. Leopards make less vocalizations but do grunt a lot. Cougars, or mountain lions, are in the family Felidae, which is the same family as the common house cat. They do purr, and make a lot of other sounds including whistling and meowing, although it sounds a lot different from a housecat. I have seen a lot of documentaries and tv shows (including Disney's The Lion King) that show lions, tigers and leopards purring, but this is just added in sounds. They are physically incapable of purring. I posted a video of our lions roaring, and snarling on Youtube under my name tanilioness. If I can find one of our cougars purring I'll put that up soon.
2007-09-25 17:10:33 · answer #1 · answered by tanilioness 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
yes they do purr and as for how..scientist have been studying that for years and still don't have a definitive answer yet
oh and cheetahs are not really cats, genetically they are closer to dogs than cats but they are not dogs either..cheetahs are cheetahs
Taxonomy can be determined in many different ways. Biochemically based on blood proteins, morphologically, or using paleontologic evidence, to name a few. Hence, there is rarely an answer that is agreed upon by systematists. It is agreed that the cheetah falls into its own genus Acinonyn within the felids, and it is the only member of this genus. There are two other genera in the family, Panthera and Felis. Panthera includes the lion, tiger, leopard and jaguar, while Felis includes the domestic cats, the small wild cats and the cougar.
Purring is a unique vocal feature in the domestic cat. However, other species in the Felidae family also purr: Bobcat, Cheetah, Eurasian Lynx, Puma, and Wild Cat (Complete list in Peters, 2002). Although some big cats like lions exhibit a purr-like sound, studies show that the Patherinae subfamily: Lion, Leopard, Jaguar, Tiger, Snow Leopard, and Clouded Leopard do not exhibit true purring (Peters, 2002).”
It was once thought that the purr was produced from blood surging through the inferior vena cava, but as research continues it seems that the intrinsic (internal) laryngeal muscles are the likely source for the purr. Moreover, there is an absence of purring in a cat with laryngeal paralysis. The laryngeal muscles are responsible for the opening and closing of the glottis (space between the vocal chords), which results in a separation of the vocal chords, and thus the purr sound. Studies have shown, that the movement of the laryngeal muscles is signaled from a unique “neural oscillator” (Frazer-Sisson, Rice, and Peters, 1991 & Remmers and Gautier, 1972) in the cat’s brain.
2007-09-25 14:14:33 · answer #2 · answered by dances with cats 7 · 0⤊ 4⤋
Someone's put a lot of "thumbs down" to the answers that say they do purr, but I read just the other day that they do purr, but only when they breathe out, unlike domestic cats that can purr when breathing in and out.
2007-09-25 15:48:54 · answer #3 · answered by janice 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are lots of members of the cat family.. Generally those that roar don't purr and vice versa.. . So lions roar, and they can't purr.. Cheetahs, while big, purr but do not roar (they actually "chirp").
Cheetahs are a member of the cat family. THis has never been in dispute.. The only thing that makes them more like dogs than cats is their claws are not retractable.. This is an adaptatoin to their method of hunting (like cleats on a track shoe, their claws help them run faster)..
2007-09-25 14:58:27 · answer #4 · answered by Shelly P. Tofu, E.M.T. 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
No, big cats roar, small and medium cats purr. The mechanism that allows purring won't allow roaring. The only exception to the 'big cat can't purr' is the cheetah and mountain lion (they're closely related actually), those two can purr.
2007-09-25 19:55:35 · answer #5 · answered by Elaine M 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The tiger is the only feline that doesn't purr.
As to how cats purr, that is still something of a mystery. The most likely explanation is that they expand and contract their diaphragm muscles which causes their vocal cords to vibrate.
2007-09-25 15:47:17 · answer #6 · answered by marguerite L 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The only big cat that can purr in the same way as the domestic cat is the cheetah. Interestingly enough, big cats like lions and tigers who roar, can only purr when breathing out.
2007-09-25 14:11:42 · answer #7 · answered by Michele the Louis Wain cat 7 · 4⤊ 2⤋
Yes the big cats also purr. Nobody really knows how they purr but the consensus is it has something to do with their voice boxes vibrating.
2007-09-25 14:11:59 · answer #8 · answered by *Cara* 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Cats are divided into two groups: those that 'purr' and those that 'roar.' Obviously, tigers and lions fall into the latter group.
2007-09-25 14:16:03 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
tigers and lions purr when they're content (happy)
the purr comes from vibrations in their vocal cord (or voice box)
2007-09-25 14:12:24 · answer #10 · answered by x...Sula...x 2 · 1⤊ 3⤋