Why can't Maine Coon cats roar?

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Maine Coon cats, like other domestic cats, lack the ability to roar due to differences in their larynx structure compared to big cats. 

The larynx of domestic cats is not as specialized as that of big cats, and their vocal cords are shorter and less flexible. As a result, domestic cats are unable to produce the deep, low-frequency vibrations that create a roar.

Maine Coon meowing loudly asking for food
Maine Coon meowing loudly asking for food. Image: DALL-E.

However, Maine Coon cats, like other domestic cats, are still capable of producing a variety of other vocalizations, such as meows, purrs, growls, and hisses, to communicate with their owners and other cats. These vocalizations are produced by other parts of the larynx and the mouth.

The tiger roar is meant to be heard over 2-3 kilometers. It is a long-distance call. Domestic cats don't need to call that far and their anatomy is too small to produce a roar.

A point worth mentioning is that a cat can either purr/meow or roar but they can't do both. The mountain lion can purr and meow but they can't roar just like domestic cats. The cheetah is in the same category as a mountain lion. But then again, the tiger can't meow or purr in the classic sense.

But the purr and the roar are mutually exclusive in cats. Roaring evolved in the lineage of the large wild cats specifically the four big cats. The category "big cat" came about because all four of these species can roar.

John Wible, curator of mammals at the Car Needy Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, said the following about the anatomy of the roaring cats,
"The roarers have a unique arrangement for one pair of the bones of the hyoid apparatus, called the epihyoids. Rather than bone, the epihyoid is an elongated elastic ligament." This flexible cartilage allows the voice box to be lower in the throat which produces a deeper sound.
And the roaring cats, leopard, jaguar, lion and tiger, have vocal cords made up of much heavier, stretchier, fleshier and fattier layers of tissue compared to the domestic cat and those cats that can't roar.

The Maine Coon cat simply does not have the anatomical apparatus to create the roaring sound and neither are they big enough to create this resonant sound.

Just think if a Maine Coon cat could roar. Just think of the advantages it would bring to this very popular cat breed. They would get their way more often. You could never ignore their demands. Not that you want to anyway.

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