The liger is the largest extant feline. It's a hybrid cross between a male lion and female tiger. As the two species don't naturally share the same habitat, ligers only occur in captivity.

Ligers will grow larger than either parent species, unlike the tigon, a cross between a male tiger and a female lion. They have traits from both parents. They enjoy swimming like tigers and are very sociable like lions. They have a faint tiger-like pattern upon a lion-like tawny background.

Male ligers reach a length of 3 - 3.6 meters; larger than the biggest tiger species: the Siberian tiger, which is larger than any lion species. The liger, Hercules, is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records, as the largest living cat on Earth. weighing it at 418.2 kg(922 lb). Even at that weight, he isn't considered to be obese. He is healthy and is expected to live a long life. Ligers have lived into their 20's.

Unlike many hybrid species, ligers and other big cat hybrids have proven fertile. In September 2012 a cub named Kiara, was born of a liger mother and lion father at the Russian Novosibirsk Zoo.

Tigons, hybrids of a male tiger and and female lion, may grow as big as their parents. However, they will not grow larger than their parents because of the growth-inhibitory gene received from their lioness mother. Like a male liger, a male tigon might grow a mane. However, the liger's or tigon's mane will be lighter and less noticeable than a pure bred lion's mane.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org