THE HUNTING-LEOPARD 



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THE HUNTING- LEOPARD ( Cyncelurus jubatus) 



The hunting-leopard (unless, as some writers think, there be two species) is 

 the last representative of the Cat family, and differs so markedly in certain respects 

 from all the others that it is now generally admitted to rank as a distinct genus. 

 As already mentioned, it is generally known to Europeans as the chita (or cheetah); 



THE HUNTING-LEOPARD. 

 (One-ninth natural size.) 



but since this name is at least equally applicable to the true leopard, its use is bet- 

 ter avoided. 



The points on which zoologists chiefly rely in making the hunting-leopard 

 tne representative of a separate genus are twofold. Firstly, and most important, 

 the claws can only be partially withdrawn into their protecting sheaths, so that they 

 always remain partly exposed. Secondly, the upper flesh-tooth consists simply of 

 a trenchant blade, without the distinct lobe found on its inner side in the true cats 



