The Cheetah has a long slender build. They are built for speed.
The Leopard has a broad face with light (almost white) eye-lining at the bottom of the eyes. This is an adaptation for nocturnal hunting whereby light is amplified and reflected from surrounding objects via these light areas into the eye to help improve nocturnal vision.
The Cheetah has a small round face with black 'tear' lines that run from the inside of the eyes to the corners of the mouth. As they are diurnal predators the black colour helps to absorb reflective light that may have more of a blinding effect during the day.
The spots of a leopard form a series of small spots in the shape of a rosette.
The cheetah has single large spots.
The leopard has fully retractable claws which enables it to grip prey and climb up trees.
The cheetah is only capable of retracting its dew claw (thumb claw) This claw is used to hook onto the preys hind legs when running at high speeds in order to trip it. The front claws which are permanently out are used for grip on the ground when running at high speeds.
Leopard rely on stealth and strength when hunting.
Cheetah rely on speed to take down their prey.
Leopard can reach a top running speed of up to 50 mph for short distances.
Cheetah can reach a top running speed of 75 mph!
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