New species of leopard discovered

New species of leopard discovered

jonathan.hasson March 15, 2007

I continue to be amazed at the discoveries that scientists are making these days.  There still are unexplored places on this earth, and the diversity of God’s amazing creatures are still being discovered.

Mardi and I saw a show on the Discovery Channel about an expedition to an unexplored area of Borneo.  The show was amazing with some terrific photography and cinematography.  One of the scientist never could get the photographic evidence of the Clouded Leopard that they not only suspected was in the forest, but could hear at night.  At the end of the show, he still had not gotten the coveted leopard evidence.

It looks like he finally did.  Here is the article discussing the discovery.  Not only was it a snowy Leopard, but it was a new species of snowy leopard.  A description of the leopard could have been taken right out of sci-fi novel!


The island’s most fearsome predator, the clouded leopard has the
longest canine teeth of any feline, with fully-grown cats boasting
fangs that are up to two-inches long.


Only the long-extinct sabre-tooth tiger had longer canine teeth for its body size.


Tails as long as their bodies allow the secretive and solitary
creatures to balance in trees, where they perch to pounce on their
prey.

Monkeys, barking deer and bearded pigs can be killed with a
single bite, with the leopard having no fear of seeking out prey that
is bigger than itself.

Such adept hunting skills put the clouded leopard, which at 35
inches from head to start of tail is about the size of a small
Labrador, right at the top of the island’s food chain.

Very cool indeed.  What a beauty.

if you haven’t seen the Borneo special, I’d highly recommended catching a rerun.

Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: ,

Powered by ScribeFire.