Facial Markings of Ligers

Ligers have unique facial markings on their face which appear in the form of spots. These facial markings are specifically dominant on their forehead area while they are lightly visible on the cheekbones and the area below their eyes while they are almost completely absent at the muzzle area. These facial markings of the ligers are very much unique and they are different from the facial markings of the tigers while the lions are out of the equation because of absence of facial markings.

Ligers have unique facial markings or facial spots on their forehead, cheekbones and the areas below their eyes. These spotted facial markings deviate from tigers' facial marking which are rather linear.

Tigers' facial markings are not spotted but rather they are linear. Lions do have markings on their body when they are cubs but they fade away with the passage of time. Therefore; a new characteristic of the liger is the presence of the unique facial markings on their face which strongly deviate from the facial markings of the tigers.

Ligers Face have
Facial Markings Ligers' Facial Markings are
Unique & Different Facial Markings are Dominant at
The Forehead of Ligers Other Areas of Facial Markings
Cheekbones & Below the Eyes Tigers' Facial Marking Pattern
Linear Facial Markings Ligers' Facial Marking Pattern
Spotted Facial Markings

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Facial Markings of the ligers are very unique and different.
Ligers have very unique facial markings which are different from the facial markings of the tigers. Photo courtesy of  

Since the ligers are the offspring of the lions and the tigresses, then how is it possible for the ligers to have spotted facial marking that are deviating from the tigers' facial marking while lions don't have any? In normal scenario these facial markings should have been linear or there should be no facial markings at all. However; the answer lies within the shared genomes of the big cats. Most of the big cats including lions and tigers possess at least 13000 common genes (Journal of Advance Science). Not only lions and tigers have common genomes of one another but they also have the common genomes of the spotted big cats such as leopards, jaguars and clouded leopards etc.

Ligers inherit their spotted facial appearance from the commonly inherited genes of big cats that are present both within lions and tigers. Remember all the big cats have a common ancestor, therefore; they widely share each other's genes.

Therefore; there is a huge possibility that during the lion and tiger hybridization the genetic exchange is not only of lions and tigers' genomes but also of the other big cats as well. Ligers' genetics seem to be amenable to the spotted-looking genomes and they get integrated on their facial appearance. Similarly; the Li-ligers whose parents don't have any spotted fur, display the spotted fur and their spots closely resemble to the spots of the jaguars.

Why Ligers' Facial Markings
are Different?
Ligers Inherited their Faical Markings from
Common Big Cat Genes All Big Cats have
At Least 13,000 Common Genes All Big Cats can
Inherit other Big Cat Genes Hybrdization further Boosts
The process of gene inheritance Ligers have Inherited
Facial Markings different from tigers Ligers' Facial Marking Pattern
Spotted Facial Markings

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Ligers facial markings are inherited from the common big cat genes present within all big cats.
All the big cats have as many as 13,000 common genes. The ligers possibly inherited their facial marking genes from these commonly inherited genes because apparently their facial markings are not similar to the tigers. Photo courtesy of  

If the ligers have inherited their facial markings from the common genomes within their parents (lion and tiger), then with which big cat these markings resemble? Big cats with facial markings include the tigers, leopards, jaguars, clouded leopards and the snow leopards. Jaguars and leopards have facial markings in the form of spots but their distribution is indefinite on their faces. However; we found that the pattern of the clouded leopards' facial marking were pretty much similar to the facial markings of the liger.

The facial markings of the ligers are very much similar to the facial markings of the clouded leopards. Even tigers' stripes are believed to have been evolved from the clouded patterns that are present on the fur of the clouded leopards.

Even it is believed that the stripes of the tigers have also evolved from the clouded patterns of the clouded leopards. Therefore; there is a big possibility that the ligers have inherited their spotted facial markings through the tigress which itself has the genes of the clouded leopard. Moreover; the distribution of the ligers' facial marking does match the linear markings of the tigers.

Big Cats with Facial Markings
tigers, leopards, jaguars, clouded leopards and the snow leopards
Leopards & Jaguars' Facial Markings
Indefinite Distribution on Face Tiger Facial Markings
Linear Facial Markings Liger Facial Markings
Similar to the Clouded Leopard's Facial Markings Tiger Stripes have also Evolved
From Clouded Leopard's clouded patterns

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Ligers Facial Markings look similar to the facial markings of the Clouded Leopards.
The facial markings of the ligers are very much similar to the facial markings of the clouded leopards. Tigers have also inherited their stripes from the clouded patterns of the Clouded Leopard. Photo courtesy of  

Apart from the stripes, each and every liger also has unique pattern of their facial markings. Therefore; no two ligers have an exact same pattern of the facial markings. Furthermore; these facial markings are like the fingerprints through which each and every liger can be differentiated from one another. Moreover; there are times when it is hard to differentiate the identity of one liger from another.

Each and every liger has a unique pattern and distribution of the facial marking on their face. These unique patterns specifically help in differentiating one liger from another.

For example, Hercules the liger has three more brothers. They all weigh 900 pounds, they all are almost 10 to 11 feet long and they have the same color of their fur. Therefore; each of these brother ligers can not only be differentiated on the basis of their stripes but also on the basis of facial marking distribution as well.

Each & Every Liger has
Unique Set of Facial Markings No Two Ligers have
Same Facial Markings Unique Facial Markings
Help in Differentiating One Liger from Another Hercules the Liger & his Brothers
Are Recognized through Stripes

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All Ligers have unique Facial markings.
Each and every liger has its own pattern of facial markings. No two ligers have a same set of facial markings. This is also helpful in differentiating one liger from another liger. Photo courtesy of  

Interestingly; the ligers which have dark brown colored stripes throughout their fur have black colored facial marking spots on their face. This further increases the possibility that both of these attributes (stripes and facial markings) of the ligers are inherited through unique genomes during the process of the lion and tigress hybridization.

The facial markings of the ligers are black in color and they look more dominant as compared to the stripes which are dark brown in color.

Furthermore; these black colored facial markings are more dominant than the dark brown stripes of the ligers. However; the facial markings of the ligers are lesser in numbers because they are only limited to their facial area only.

Ligers' Facial Marking Color
Black Colored Facial Markings Color of Stripes
Dark Brown Colored Stripes Liger Facial Markings are
More Dominant than their Stripes

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Black colored facial markings of the ligers.
Ligers have black colored facial markings on their face. The color of the facial markings is different from their stripes which are dark brown in color. Phot courtesy of  

Lastly; the facial markings of the ligers have the tendency to influence their social and physical behaviors. Several researches have shown that they play a crucial role during socialization of the big cats and through these markings they recognize each other. According to Dr. Bhagavan Antle ligers are very social and they have inherited their socialization from the lion genes

The facial markings of the ligers can also help them to socialize with one another. Furthermore; they act as some sort of distraction for the biting flies as well.

Therefore; even though they are in captivity yet still they may recognize and react with the help of these facial markings. Secondly; the facial markings and the fur markings also protect the big cats from the biting flies. These social marking distract the landing of the biting flies and they tend to stay confused whether to go for a bite or not.

Ligers are
Very Social Big Cats Facial Markings of Ligers
Help them in Socialization Facial Markings of Ligers
Help them against Biting Flies Pattern of Markings
Disrupt the focus of the Biting Flies

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Facial Markings of the Ligers help them in Socialization as well.
Liger are very social and their facial markings can also play a big part within socialization as well. Photo courtesy of