Monday 30 April 2018

I Guess We All Know,

that leopards and cheetahs have spots,


this a typical leopard, (Panthera pardus),

 and this a cheetah, (Acinonyx jubatus), but what I did not know is that a cheetah can can it's spots into stripes, not by choice but by a genetic mutation,

and is called a King Cheetah, or sometimes Coopers Cheetah, while most cheetahs have spots, very rarely one will be born with stripes as well, a cheetah with this characteristic was first documented in 1926 by Major A. Cooper who spotted and killed said cheetah in the region of modern day Zimbabwe, since then, these so called “king cheetahs” (they were originally thought to be a separate species) have been spotted in the wild just five times, though some have also been born in captivity, it was not until 2012, that it was discovered that king cheetahs have a recessive mutation in their transmembrane aminopeptidase Q (Taqpep) gene causing the distinctive fur patterns, striped cheetahs, I have looked but can find no mention of striped leopards, and research says that a leopard can not change it's spots, but you never know one could be lurking out there.


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