The families of animals have great similarities between their species, although there are also very marked differences that endow nature with richness. We have, for example, the big cats that in some aspects could well pass for playful kittens, although of course they have their intrinsic behaviors that are far from a domestic cat. There are so many species of cats that sometimes it is difficult to differentiate one from another, it is clear that a lion is very different from a panther, but what is the difference between a leopard and a jaguar? Here the challenge rises.
Both share certain characteristics that make it difficult to tell them apart. That is to say, both are large predators that act by ambush and also both have very similar patterns in their fur. But there are aspects that make it possible for us to correctly differentiate a jaguar from a leopard and here we explain them to you.
Differences between jaguar and leopard
Size
The jaguar is the feline king of America, so much so that it forms an important part of the worldview of Mesoamerican cultures. The image of the mighty jaguar has been used to represent pre-Hispanic gods in both Central and South American cultures.
The jaguar inhabits the jungles of Central and South America, where it is crowned as the largest feline. On the contrary, the leopard lives in Africa and Asia where they are used to seeing their size dwarfed compared to other larger cats such as the lion, in the case of Africa.
The size difference between the jaguar and the leopard is very large. The first reach much larger volumes, they are even more abundant fur and can weigh 115 kilograms. In contrast, leopards are smaller in size, with just 80 kilograms. Not surprisingly, jaguars have the most powerful bite of all the big cats. This differentiation between the two species is probably due to the different environments, that is, their diet is very different.
Jaguars, for example, tend to love water and hunt within it. They eat alligators and anacondas as part of their daily diet which they can find from the Amazon to Mexico. However, the diet of leopards is based on other mammals and deer, for this reason, they tend to stay away from water or water bodies.
The fur
The fur is another point of great value when it comes to differentiating a leopard from a jaguar. Leopards are smaller and with less abundant fur. Unlike jaguars, which tend to have much more fluffy fur. As for the patterns of the spots on their skin called rosettes, they are irregular black circles that serve them in both cases to camouflage themselves. But in jaguars they have much larger spots, unlike leopards which have smaller, tighter rosettes.
In both cases, black leopards or jaguars can be found, which is due to a mutation that causes excess melanin production. The same one that is in charge of giving color to our hair, skin, eyes, among many other news.
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