The ancestors of the snow leopard settled in the mountains at a time when the climate here was not so harsh. But conditions have changed, and the species has had to adapt. Evolution in the highlands has left a special imprint on the anatomy of this animal. The snow leopard has adapted perfectly to the difficult, extreme conditions of life and hunting.
To begin with — general information about the size of the animal:
the body weight of a male can reach 55 kilograms, the weight of a female is 40;
height approximately 60 cm;
the length of the body, excluding the tail, is up to 130 cm, and the tail is up to 105 cm.
The snow leopard is a squat animal with a long and flexible body. Together with the tail, the body length can exceed 2 meters. The front paws are shorter, the hind legs are longer. The length of the tail is more than three quarters of the length of the body. This structure helps the snow leopard to move quickly and deftly in rocky terrain, and to hunt successfully. Powerful paws carry the beast forward, and the tail helps to maintain balance on the rocks, where the snow leopard overtakes its prey. The claws help to hold her down.
The snow leopard’s small head is crowned with short rounded ears. In winter, when the leopard warms up to the frosts, they are practically hidden in thick fur.
An adult leopard has 30 teeth in its mouth, including two sharp canines on its upper jaw. The tongue of the beast is long and mobile, covered with a hard epithelium — it helps to separate the meat of prey from bones, and also serves as a kind of comb during washing.