Protective mimicry in the cheetah, part 3
A subtle aspect of the colouration of females of the lion is that both the mouth and the chest are so pale as to be conspicuous in certain lights. The cheetah shows a similar pattern, differing from the leopard and most other large felids in this way. The spotless whiteness of the chin and throat of the cheetah are anomalous relative to the camouflage-pattern on most of its fur. As a result the cheetah, like females of the lion, can at distance look gleamingly pale on the front when sitting. See https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/portrait-of-lion-sitting-on-rock-royalty-free-image/1271814971?adppopup=true and https://www.wallpaperbetter.com/en/hd-wallpaper-apzoz and https://wildlifereferencephotos.com/media.details.php?mediaID=38923 and https://www.australiazoo.com.au/wildlife/our-animals/cheetahs/ and https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=41746&picture=cheetah-in-profile.
The cheetah possesses the strongest example of a malar stipe in all the felids, and this feature is absent in the lion. The malar stripe may, at distance, give a deceptive impression of depth to the relatively small, flattish face of the cheetah. See https://avatarfiles.alphacoders.com/222/222732.jpg.
The following photos show the similarly pale frontal aspects of the two species. Compare females of the lion (https://focusedcollection.com/164924450/stock-photo-lioness-sitting-on-grass.html and https://www.alamy.com/lion-panthera-leo-lioness-sitting-on-grass-looking-toward-camera-kenya-masai-mara-national-park-image360919468.html and https://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-30586892/stock-photo-lioness-sitting-in-open-grassland and https://www.shutterstock.com/nb/image-photo/lioness-sitting-on-hill-1210103518) with the cheetah (https://depositphotos.com/221777980/stock-photo-cheetah-sits-long-grass-profile.html and https://www.alamy.com/cheetah-acinonyx-jubatus-image7758377.html and https://www.shutterstock.com/nb/image-photo/cheetah-seen-on-safari-while-hunting-1831407343).
Females of the lion have a pale panel on the side of the neck, which is a result of sheen as much as depigmentation. When viewed partly from behind, this provides dark/pale contrast with the back-of-ear. It may be more than coincidence that the spotting of the cheetah tends to lapse on the corresponding surface of the neck. I suspect that the pale effect in the lion is partly a matter of reflection of ultraviolet (which felids can see) and that the cheetah shares the reflective pattern more in terms of ultraviolet than in terms of depigmentation. See https://www.robertharding.com/preview/1174-5224/side-profile-lioness-sitting-panthera-leo-ears-up/ and https://www.goodfon.com/download/gepard-morda-profil-ohota/1920x1275/ and https://www.shutterstock.com/nb/image-photo/cheetah-photography-masai-mara-1008002893 and https://www.masterfile.com/image/en/700-02887427/cheetah-masai-mara-kenya.
To be continued...
Comentarios
Añade un comentario