Comparison between leopard and cheetah

Date: 22nd july 2015Contact: maryamsadat95@hotmail.comWeb: www.lostmar.blogspot.com

Introduction

Have you ever thought of leopard and cheetah and thought to yourself “what are the differences between them?” well, if you did then I’ll let you know, and if you did not…then just keep on reading and discover something new. I honestly did not know myself, so I decided to go ahead and make a research about it. The differences between these species will be provided with pictures, I will then summarize the comparison in a table.

Comparisons

Figure 1: general comparison between leopard and Cheetah

As you see in figure 1, the Cheetah has a noticeable black line called tear marks that run from the inner corner of the eyes to the corner of the upper part of the mouth, while leopard has none.

Figure 2: comparison between leopard and cheetah’s prints

As it shows in figure 2, you can easily distinguish between their prints. A Leopard has a pattern that looks like a flower; this shape or pattern is called—rosettes—inside the shape it has a slightly different color. A Cheetah has no rosettes; in fact it has a solid or oval spots.

Figure 3: Body comparison.

The adult Leopard weighs around 30-91 kg and it is 45-80cm tall, as for the adult Cheetah it weighs around 21-72 kg and it is 90 cm tall. Which means, cheetahs are taller, lighter and

faster, but leopard are larger and stronger. Cheetahs rely on their speed (up to 113 km/hour) making them the world’s fastest animal, while leopards rely on their muscles power to drag their prey to a more secure place such as trees and their speed is up to 60

km/hour.

Figure 4: Eye comparison.

You can see the difference between their eyes just by looking at figure 4. Leopards’ eye colors vary but most of them have a greenish grey to brownish and also blue. As for cheetahs, they have amber colored eyes some can be reddish brown.

Figure 5: Jaw Comparison.

Leopards have a strong teeth and jaw, which allow them to crunch through thick bones, while cheetahs have smaller teeth and jaw, which is the reason why they can not crunch through thick bones but having a small jaw means having larger nasal cavity for rapid breathing.

Figure 6: Claws Comparison.

Leopards have retractile claws that allow them to climb trees, while cheetahs do not. That is why they prefer to keep their prey in grassy plains, but leopard prefer to drag their prey up the trees. Leopards hunt under the moonlight while cheetahs during the day.

Figure 7: Legs comparison

Leopards have short and muscular legs, helping them to climb the trees jauntily. As for the Cheetahs they have long legs that support their incredible acceleration.

Figure 8: Hunting strategy comparison

Leopards take their prey by surprise; they prefer to attack them from a short distance (4.57-18.28 cm, 5-20 yards). Cheetahs run after their prey, tackle them from behind causing them to lose their balance and then go for the throat.

In table 1, I summarized everything I mentioned above in this table and I also added some scientific information. One more thing to mention is that Leopards are from the subfamily Pantherinae.

Just to clear things up the order of the animal tree starts with 1. Kingdom2. Phylum3. Class4. Order5. Family6. Sub-Family7. Genus8. Species

References en.wikipedia.org http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/photos/4462326/?source=gallery http://news.yahoo.com/humans-blame-cheetah-decline-study-finds-

142504577.html http://wallpapers4u.net/wallpaper/1344873-leopard-big-cats-sumatra-

snow-cat-animal-desktop-tiger-angry-wildlife-nature http://www.popsugar.com/pets/Spot-Differences-Between-Leopards-

Jaguars-Cheetahs-3271875 http://africafreak.com/blog/top-10-major-differences-between-cheetahs-

leopards/