Can Lions, Tigers & Other Wild Cats Meow, Or Do They Just Roar?
Filed in Category Tigers
Large cats like lions and tigers cannot meow (at least not when they’re adults – cubs make a sort of growly meowing sound), but many of the smaller cat species, like the sand cat, margay and so on, make very similar sounds to domestic cats. Cheetahs also make various mewing and chirping sounds.
Roger S is mistaken in his taxonomy. There is only one cat family, Felidae, within which there are several genera. There is no genus called Leo. The genus Panthera is the one often referred to as ‘the roaring cats’. The species in this genus – the tiger, lion, jaguar and leopard – are the only ones able to roar, due to the structure of the hyoid apparatus in the throat. Other large cats, like the puma and snow leopard, cannot roar as such, but can make a sound rather like a snarly scream which is their equivalent. The roaring cats can purr, but only whilst they breathe out – small cats purr whilst breathing in and breathing out.
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Cats are divided into two cat families, the big cats (genus Leo) and the small cats (genus Felis). One difference is that small cats have a special bone in the larynx which allows purring. Big cats can’t purr like this. “Roaring” is a matter of size. The smaller an animal is, the smaller the vocal cords and the higher the pitch of the sounds it makes. Housecats attempting to roar sound like they are screaming loudly. A bellowing elephant would probably sound as though it were squeaking if it were the size of a mouse. Mice however can actually roar, but it sounds like a very loud hissing sound. Females can make these sounds to startle preditors attempting to raid the young in their nests.
I have seen a tiger attempting to meow. It was a much deeper, more gutteral sound than would be made by a housecat, but the tone was unambiguously “meoooooow” and not a roar.
I don’t know whether this is true for all species of Panthera, but suspect it is.
Hey what is up yah ummm all big kitties ROAR cuz they r sexy like that