Editing Leopard (section)

==Characteristics==
{{Multiple image |direction=vertical |align=right|image1=Leopard skeleton (black background).jpg|caption1=Mounted skeleton |image2=Panthera pardus 3d scan Natural History Museum University of Pisa C 1389.stl|caption2=3D model of skeleton|image3=Persian Leopard Fur 02.JPG |caption3=Rosettes of a leopard|image4=Blackleopard.JPG|caption4=A melanistic leopard or black panther}}
The leopard's fur is generally soft and thick, notably softer on the belly than on the back.<ref name=Skinner>{{cite book |year=2005 |title=The mammals of the southern African sub region |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521844185 |editor1-last=Skinner |editor1-first=J. D. |editor2-last=Chimimba |editor2-first=C. T. |edition=Third |last1=Mills |first1=M. G. L. |chapter=Subfamily Pantherinae |pages=385–396 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iqwEYkTDZf4C&pg=PA385 |access-date=2021-05-19 |archive-date=2024-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505150034/https://books.google.com/books?id=iqwEYkTDZf4C&pg=PA385#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> Its skin colour varies between individuals from pale yellowish to dark golden with dark spots grouped in [[Rosette (zoology)|rosette]]s. Its underbelly is white and its ringed tail is shorter than its body. Its pupils are round.<ref name=Mivart1900>{{cite book |last1=Mivart |first1=St. G. J. |author-link=St. George Jackson Mivart |title=The Cat: An Introduction to the Study of Backboned Animals, Especially Mammals |date=1900 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |chapter=Different kind of Cats |pages=391–439 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/catintroductiont00miva/page/394}}</ref> Leopards living in arid regions are pale cream, yellowish to [[ochraceous]] and [[rufous]] in colour; those living in forests and mountains are much darker and deep golden. Spots fade toward the white underbelly and the insides and lower parts of the legs.<ref name=Pocock1932>{{cite journal |last1=Pocook |first1=R. I. |year=1932 |title=The Leopards of Africa |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London |volume=102 |issue=2 |pages=543–591 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1932.tb01085.x}}</ref> Rosettes are circular in East African leopard populations, and tend to be squarish in Southern African and larger in Asian leopard populations. The fur tends to be grayish in colder climates, and dark golden in [[rainforest]] habitats.<ref name=CAP>{{cite book |author=Nowell, K. |author2=Jackson, P. |name-list-style=amp |year=1996 |title=Wild Cats: status survey and conservation action plan |publisher=IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group |location=Gland, Switzerland |chapter=Leopard ''Panthera pardus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222223654/http://lynx.uio.no/lynx/catsgportal/cat-website/catfolk/ssaprd01.htm |archive-date=2014-02-22 |chapter-url=http://lynx.uio.no/lynx/catsgportal/cat-website/catfolk/ssaprd01.htm}}</ref> Rosette patterns are unique in each individual.<ref name=Schutze>{{cite book |last1=Schütze |first1=H. |title=Field Guide to the Mammals of the Kruger National Park |date=2002 |publisher=Struik Publishers|location=Cape Town, South Africa |isbn=978-1-86872-594-6 |pages=92–93}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Menon |first1=V. |title=Indian Mammals: A Field Guide |date=2014 |publisher=Hachette |location=Gurgaon, India |isbn=978-93-5009-761-8}}</ref> This pattern is thought to be an adaptation to dense vegetation with patchy shadows, where it serves as [[camouflage]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Allen, W. L. |author2=Cuthill, I. C. |author3=Scott-Samuel, N. E. |author4=Baddeley, R. |year=2010 |name-list-style=amp |title=Why the leopard got its spots: relating pattern development to ecology in felids |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=278 |issue=1710 |pages=1373–1380 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2010.1734 |pmc=3061134 |pmid=20961899}}</ref>

Its white-tipped tail is about {{cvt|60|-|100|cm|1}} long, white underneath and with spots that form incomplete bands toward the end of the tail.<ref name=Hoath>{{cite book |last1=Hoath |first1=R. |title=Field Guide to the Mammals of Egypt |date=2009 |publisher=American University in Cairo Press |location=Cairo, Egypt |isbn=978-977-416-254-1 |pages=106–107 |chapter=Leopard ''Panthera pardus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=agWfg6oEKKkC&pg=PA106 |access-date=2021-05-19 |archive-date=2024-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505145927/https://books.google.com/books?id=agWfg6oEKKkC&pg=PA106#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref>
The guard hairs protecting the basal hairs are short, {{cvt|3-4|mm|1}} in face and head, and increase in length toward the flanks and the belly to about {{cvt|25|-|30|mm|1}}. Juveniles have woolly fur that appear to be dark-coloured due to the densely arranged spots.<ref name=Schutze/><ref name=estes>{{cite book |last=Estes |first=R. |year=1991 |title=The Behavior Guide to African Mammals, Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, Primates |location=Los Angeles |publisher=The University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-08085-0 |chapter=Leopard ''Panthera pardus'' |pages=366–369 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g977LsZHpcsC&pg=PA366 |access-date=2021-05-19 |archive-date=2024-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505145853/https://books.google.com/books?id=g977LsZHpcsC&pg=PA366#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> 
Its fur tends to grow longer in colder climates.<ref name=mammal>{{cite journal |author1=Stein, A. B. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Hayssen, V. |title=''Panthera pardus'' (Carnivora: Felidae) |journal=[[Mammalian Species]] |date=2010 |volume=45 |issue=900 |pages=30–48 |doi=10.1644/900.1 |s2cid=44839740 |doi-access=free|pmc=7149468 }}</ref>
The leopard's rosettes differ from those of the [[jaguar]], which are darker and with smaller spots inside.<ref name=Mivart1900/> The leopard has a [[Diploidy|diploid]] [[chromosome]] number of 38.<ref name=HeptnerSludskiy1972>{{Cite book |last1=Heptner |first1=V. G. |name-list-style=amp |last2=Sludskii |first2=A. A. |orig-year=1972 |year=1992 |title=Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola |trans-title=Mammals of the Soviet Union, Volume II, Part 2 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation |location=Washington DC |chapter=Bars (leopard) |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov221992gept#page/82/mode/2up |pages=203–273 |isbn=978-90-04-08876-4}}</ref>

Melanistic leopards are also known as [[black panther]]s. [[Melanism]] in leopards is caused by a [[recessive allele]] and is inherited as a [[recessive trait]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Robinson |first1=R. |title=Inheritance of the black form of the leopard ''Panthera pardus'' |journal=Genetica |year=1970 |volume=41 |issue=1|pages=190–197 |doi=10.1007/BF00958904 |pmid=5480762 |s2cid=5446868}}</ref><ref name=Eizirik>{{cite journal |last1=Eizirik |first1=E. |last2=Yuhki |first2=N. |last3=Johnson |first3=W. E.|last4=Menotti-Raymond |first4=M. |last5=Hannah |first5=S. S. |last6=O'Brien |first6=S. J. |title=Molecular genetics and evolution of melanism in the cat family |journal=Current Biology |year=2003 |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=448–453 |doi=10.1016/S0960-9822(03)00128-3 |pmid=12620197 |s2cid=19021807 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2003CBio...13..448E}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kawanishi |first1=K. |last2=Sunquist |first2=M. E. |last3=Eizirik |first3=E. |last4=Lynam |first4=A. J. |last5=Ngoprasert |first5=D. |last6=Wan Shahruddin |first6=W. N. |last7=Rayan |first7=D. M. |last8=Sharma |first8=D. S. K.|last9=Steinmetz|first9=R. |name-list-style=amp |title=Near fixation of melanism in leopards of the Malay Peninsula |journal=Journal of Zoology |year=2010 |volume=282 |issue=3 |pages=201–206 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2010.00731.x}}</ref><ref name=daSilva17>{{cite journal |author1=Da Silva L. G. |author2=Kawanishi, K. |first=K. |author3=Henschel P. |author4=Kittle, A. |author5=Sanei, A. |author6=Reebin, A. |author7=Miquelle, D. |author8=Stein, A. B. |author9=Watson, A. |author10=Kekule, L. B. |author11=Machado, R. B. |author12=Eizirik, E. |name-list-style=amp |year=2017 |title=Mapping black panthers: Macroecological modeling of melanism in leopards (''Panthera pardus'') |journal= PLOS ONE |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=e0170378 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0170378 |pmid=28379961 |pmc=5381760 |bibcode=2017PLoSO..1270378D |doi-access=free}}</ref>
In India, nine pale and white leopards were reported between 1905 and 1967.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Divyabhanusinh |year=1993 |title=On mutant leopards ''Panthera pardus'' from India |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=90 |issue=1 |pages=88−89 |url=https://archive.org/details/journalofbombay901993bomb/page/88}}</ref>
Leopards exhibiting [[erythrism]] were recorded between 1990 and 2015 in South Africa's [[Madikwe Game Reserve]] and in [[Mpumalanga]]. The cause of this [[Polymorphism (biology)|morph]] known as a "strawberry leopard" or "pink panther" is not well understood.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pirie |first1=T. J. |last2=Thomas |first2=R. L. |last3=Fellowes |first3=M. D. E. |name-list-style=amp |date=2016 |title=Erythristic leopards ''Panthera pardus'' in South Africa |journal=Bothalia |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=1–5 |doi=10.4102/abc.v46i1.2034 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Size===
The leopard is a slender and muscular cat, with relatively short limbs and a broad head. It is [[sexually dimorphic]] with males larger and heavier than females.<ref name=Hoath/> Males stand {{cvt|60|-|70|cm}} at the shoulder, while females are {{cvt|57|-|64|cm}} tall. The head-and-body length ranges between {{cvt|92|and|183|cm}} with a {{cvt|66|to|102|cm|}} long tail. Sizes vary geographically. Males typically weigh {{cvt|30.9|-|72|kg}}, and females {{cvt|20.5|-|43|kg}}.<ref name="Kingdon">{{cite book |author1=Hunter, L. |author2=Henschel, P. |author3=Ray, J. C. |name-list-style=amp |chapter=''Panthera pardus'' Leopard |pages=159–168 |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-4081-8996-2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B_07noCPc4kC&pg=RA4-PA159 |editor1=Kingdon, J. |editor2=Happold, D. |editor3=Butynski, T. |editor4=Hoffmann, M. |editor5=Happold, M. |editor6=Kalina, J. |title=Mammals of Africa |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=London |access-date=2021-05-19 |archive-date=2024-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505145933/https://books.google.com/books?id=B_07noCPc4kC&pg=RA4-PA159#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> Occasionally, large males can grow up to {{cvt|91|kg}}. Leopards from the [[Cape Province]] in South Africa are generally smaller, reaching only {{cvt|20|-|45|kg}} in males.<ref name=estes/><ref name=mammal /><ref name=nowak>{{cite book |last1=Nowak |first1=R. M. |title=Walker's Mammals of the World |year=1999 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore, US |isbn=978-0-8018-5789-8 |edition=Sixth |pages=828–831 |chapter=''Panthera pardus'' (Leopard) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T37sFCl43E8C&pg=PA828 |access-date=2021-05-19 |archive-date=2024-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505145930/https://books.google.com/books?id=T37sFCl43E8C&pg=PA828#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref>
The heaviest wild leopard in Southern Africa weighed around {{cvt|96|kg}}, and it measured {{cvt|262|cm}}.<ref name=Burnie>{{cite book |editor-last1=Burnie |editor-first1=D. |editor-last2=Wilson |editor-first2=D. E. |name-list-style=amp |year=2001 |title=Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife |publisher=DK Adult |isbn=978-0-7894-7764-4}}</ref> In 2016, an Indian leopard killed in [[Himachal Pradesh]] measured {{cvt|261|cm}} with an estimated weight of {{cvt|78.5|kg}}; it was perhaps the largest known wild leopard in India.<ref>{{cite news |year=2016 |title=Is this the longest leopard in India? |newspaper=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Is-this-the-longest-leopard-in-India/articleshow/56227308.cms |access-date=2018-03-14 |archive-date=2019-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406154410/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/Is-this-the-longest-leopard-in-India/articleshow/56227308.cms |url-status=live}}</ref>

The largest recorded skull of a leopard was found in India in 1920 and measured {{cvt|28|cm}} in [[Basal (anatomy)|basal]] length, {{cvt|20|cm}} in breadth, and weighed {{cvt|1|kg}}. The skull of an African leopard measured {{cvt|286|mm}} in basal length, and {{cvt|181|mm}} in breadth, and weighed {{cvt|790|g}}.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Prater, S. H. |title=Record panther skull (''P. p. pardus'') |journal=The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |date=1921 |volume=XXVII |issue=Part IV |pages=933–935 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/95740#page/1055/mode/1up |access-date=2019-08-24 |archive-date=2019-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502064501/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/95740#page/1055/mode/1up |url-status=live}}</ref>