Baby Jaguar Leaning on a Tree
by Christy Saunders Church
Title
Baby Jaguar Leaning on a Tree
Artist
Christy Saunders Church
Medium
Drawing - Colored Pencils
Description
Colored pencil sketch of jaguar
The jaguar is a compact and well-muscled animal. It is the largest cat native to the Americas and the third largest in the world, exceeded in size by the tiger and lion.[12][21][22] Its coat is generally a tawny yellow, but ranges to reddish-brown, for most of the body. The ventral areas are white.[23] The fur is covered with rosettes for camouflage in the dappled light of its forest habitat. The spots and their shapes vary between individual jaguars: rosettes may include one or several dots. The spots on the head and neck are generally solid, as are those on the tail, where they may merge to form a band.[12] Forest jaguars are frequently darker and considerably smaller than those in open areas, possibly due to the smaller numbers of large, herbivorous prey in forest areas.[24]
Its size and weight vary considerably: weights are normally in the range of 56–96 kg (123–212 lb). Exceptionally big males have been recorded to weigh as much as 158 kg (348 lb).[25][26] The smallest females weigh about 36 kg (79 lb).[25] Females are typically 10–20 percent smaller than males. The length, from the nose to the base of the tail, varies from 1.12 to 1.85 m (3.7 to 6.1 ft). The tail is the shortest of any big cat, at 45 to 75 cm (18 to 30 in) in length.[25][27] Legs are also short, but thick and powerful, considerably shorter when compared to a small tiger or lion in a similar weight range. The jaguar stands 63 to 76 cm (25 to 30 in) tall at the shoulders.[23]
Further variations in size have been observed across regions and habitats, with size tending to increase from north to south. Mexican jaguars in the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve on the Pacific coast weighed just about 50 kg (110 lb), about the size of a female cougar.[28] South American jaguars in Venezuela or Brazil are much larger with average weights of about 95 kg (209 lb) in males and of about 56–78 kg (123–172 lb) in females.[12]
A short and stocky limb structure makes the jaguar adept at climbing, crawling, and swimming.[23] The head is robust and the jaw extremely powerful, it has the third highest bite force of all felids, after the tiger and lion.[29] A 100 kg (220 lb) jaguar can bite with a force of 503.6 kgf (1,110 lbf) at canine teeth and 705.8 kgf (1,556 lbf) at carnassial notch.[30] This allows it to pierce the shells of armored reptiles and turtles.[31] A comparative study of bite force adjusted for body size ranked it as the top field, alongside the clouded leopard and ahead of the tiger and lion.[32] It has been reported that "an individual jaguar can drag an 800 lb (360 kg) bull 25 ft (7.6 m) in its jaws and pulverize the heaviest bones".[33]
While the jaguar closely resembles the leopard, it is generally sturdier and heavier, and the two animals can be distinguished by their rosettes: the rosettes on a jaguar's coat are larger, fewer in number, usually darker, and have thicker lines and small spots in the middle that the leopard lacks. Jaguars also have rounder heads and shorter, stockier limbs compared to leopards.[34]
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November 21st, 2012
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