Do the “big cats” such as tigers and lions purr like household cats?
NO; BIG CATS CAN ONLY PURR WHEN BREATING OUT. There are five species in the genus Panthera: tigers (P. tigris), snow leopards (P. uncia), leopards (P. pardus), jaguars (P. onca), and lions (P. leo). All Panthera cats have elastic sections on both sides of the hyoid bone, a structure which supports the tongue and its muscles. The elastic hyoid, combined with the fibroelastic tissue on top of the big cats’ undivided vocal folds, acts like a slide trombone, enabling the big cats to roar. Only snow leopards, which lack the specialized vocal folds, are not able to roar. Because of the elastic hyoid, big cats can purr only when breathing out. The hyoid of smaller cats is solid bone. These cats can purr when breathing both in and out, but they can’t roar.
