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The leopard (Panthera pardus), is an associate of the Felidae family and the least of the four big cats in the kind Panthera; the other three being the tiger, lion and jaguar. The leopard (Panthera pardus), has fairly short legs and a long body, with a big skull. Its fur is marked with like rosettes to those of the jaguar, while the leopard (Panthera pardus), rosettes are lesser and more thickly filled, and the leopard (Panthera pardus), rosettes do not usually have central spots as the jaguar do.
Once distributed across southern Asia and Africa, from Korea to South Africa, the leopard (Panthera pardus), variety of distribution has decreased radically due to hunting and loss of habitat, and the greatest attentiveness of leopard (Panthera pardus), now occurs primarily in sub Saharan Africa; there are also disjointed populations in Pakistan, India, Indochina, Malaysia, and China.
Both leopard (Panthera pardus), and jaguars that are melanistic (completely black or very dark) are recognized as black panthers. The leopard (Panthera pardus), consumes roughly any animal it can track down and catch. Its favored habitat ranges from rainforest to desert terrains. Its ecological role is similar to the American cougar. The leopard (Panthera pardus), is an agile and furtive predator. Although smaller than the other members of the Panthera type, the leopard (Panthera pardus), is still capable to take large prey given a huge skull that well utilizes influential jaw muscles.
Leopard (Panthera pardus), may occasionally be puzzled with two other large spotted cats, the cheetah and the jaguar. However, the patterns of spots in each are dissimilar: the cheetah has easy spots, equally spread; the jaguar has little spots inside the polygonal rosettes; while the leopard (Panthera pardus), typically has rounder, smaller rosettes than those of the jaguar. The leopard (Panthera pardus), is larger and much more muscular than the cheetah, but slightly smaller and more peacefully built than the jaguar. The leopard (Panthera pardus), rosettes are round in East Africa but tend to be squarer in southern Africa. Leopard (Panthera pardus), have been reported to reach 21 years of age in captivity.

leopard-panthera-pardus