There are many spotted wild cats. Two
of them are 'big' cats: the leopard and the jaguar.
Sometimes people have a hard time telling them apart.
One simple way is to look at the spot pattern...
and we mean really look. Although we say leopards
and jaguars have spots, some of the markings aren't really
spots at all! The markings form rings which may or may
not be solid all the way around. These are called 'rosettes'.
Let's compare the rosettes of jaguars and leopards...
Jaguars have very large rosettes on their sides and backs.
Some of the rosettes have spots inside. (See photos
at right).
The rosettes of leopards are much smaller and do not have
any spots inside (See photos in yellow box).
Now
scroll down past the yellow box to compare the whole
bodies of leopards and jaguars.
Notice that the rosettes of leopards form a similar pattern all
over their bodies. The rosettes on a leopard's shoulders
are much the same as the rosettes on it's belly, back and legs.
Jaguars do not have an all-over pattern. You
will notice three types of markings on a jaguar. On the neck and
shoulders there are small, scattered spots. On the
belly and back you will see big rosettes. On the
legs there are quite large, solid black spots.
Would
you like to know some other differences between
jaguars and leopards? Read on...
One
of the most important is size. The
top weight on a fully grown male leopard is about 120lbs.
Jaguars can weigh up to 300lbs! That's more than twice
as much as a leopard!
Another
important difference is geographic location. Jaguars
and leopard live in very different parts of the world.
Jaguars
only live in Central and South America. Leopards
live in Africa and Asia. These
are different continents!
If you study their bodies very closely you will notice
more differences. The body of the jaguar is stockier,
his head is larger and rounder than a leopard and the
tail is not quite as slim and long as a leopard's.
One
possible reason for a shorter tail is that the jaguar,
which is at the top of the food chain and fears noone
but mankind, spends most of its time hunting on the
forest floor. It does not need quite such a long tail
for leaping up into trees and balancing on branches.
The leopard, on the other hand, will climb trees to escape
danger. Perhaps a lion or a tiger is threatening them.
Lions and tigers kill leopards to stop them using the
food they need for themselves.
Having a long, powerful tail helps African leopards climb
trees for another reason. They pull their kills high
into the branches so they won't be disturbed by scavengers.
Scavengers are animals, like hyenas, foxes and even lions,
which try to steal away a kill and finish off what is
left.
If a leopard has cached his kill in
a tree it is much more difficult for scavengers to take
it away. 'Cached' means to store something in a hidden
place.
Key Facts: Leopards and jaguars
have different spot patterns and
live in different areas of the world.
Their weights and body
shape are different and they have different behaviors.
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