1.5-minute read
If you were a wild feline trying to creep through the canopy of a rainforest undetected or stalk the tall grasses of a savanna in stealth mode, which pattern and color would you choose for your pelt? Striped, spotted, or solid? Brown, beige, grey, or maybe green? Green might seem like a natural choice, but as you’ve probably noticed, mammal fur doesn’t come in green (and here’s why).
Of course, lions, tigers, and leopards don’t pick their own pelt patterns. Through the process of evolution, nature provides each of the 40 wild cat species with coloring that ensures they don’t stand out in a crowd. According to a University of Bristol study, the differences in patterning relate to how, when, and where the animals hunt. Cats, big and small, are creepers and leapers. Their primary meal acquisition strategy is to stalk their prey until they are close enough to pounce. Blending in with background colors, shapes, and textures makes keeping a low profile a whole lot easier.
Researchers believe that the more complex the animal’s surroundings, the more intricate the pelt pattern. Cats like the fancy-furred clouded leopard that live in dense tropical forests have evolved with dark-spotted, patchy pelts that blend in with shifting patterns of shadow and light compared to solid-colored cats like lions that spend their days prowling wide open, relatively tree-less grassland environments.
It seems that when it comes to surviving in the wild, there’s no such thing as too matchy-matchy for felines—maybe that’s why leopards never change their spots.
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