Cranio-dental signature of three big cats of India: implications in wildlife forensics

Identifying species from various confiscated material is a prerequisite and of utmost importance to extend support to the law enforcement agencies in curbing illegal wildlife trade and prosecution of the cases in the court of law. Cranio and odontometric measurements have been used in developing characters for ascertaining species identity from the osteological specimens. In the present study, we established baseline data by measuring the cranial and odontometric variables in differentiating the skulls of three big cats of India, i.e. tiger, leopard and lion. The skulls of tigers were the largest and weighed heaviest among three felids and the lateral profiles revealed very sharp maxilla-naso-frontal suture angle. The skulls of lions were relatively intermediate in size having obtuse maxilla-naso-frontal suture angle with relatively rounded appearance. Leopard skulls were smallest having a prominent canine grooves and convex nasal profiles. The multivariate, principal component analysis using the selected cranio-mandibular measurement data successfully differentiated the three species. The findings of the present study will aid in forensic identification of the confiscated cranium/parts or tooth of these three big cats and open new avenues to examine the museum specimens with the reported cranio-mandibular measurements.