If you're wondering what the Sumatran tiger, jaguar, African lion, snow leopard, and cheetah have in common it's the fact that they're all from the same family. Being in the same family means that these marvellous species evolved from the same closely related species, allowing them to share certain characteristics. Nevertheless, these animals are still distinct from one another with other traits that allow them to live in specific habitats.
Commonalities
The reason why species of this family are known to be very similar is because they've all descended from the Viverraines, a large family of cat-like carnivorous mammals that lived in warm climates.Over time, evolution took its place by adapting them to the different environment, slowly changing their traits in different parts of the world. This is why cats like snow leopard can live in colder climates than cheetahs, lions and jaguars. Also, all wild felines are carnivores. The detailed morphology of these animals, including the rostrum, tooth row, well developed carnassial, and long & cone-like canines give them the ability to be excellent hunters by adding force to their prey’s neck, puncturing their tissues and ripping apart their flesh. Another similarity they share is the structure of their legs. With some exceptions, these felines have longer hind legs than for feet which allow them to be very good sprinters and leapers. All of these cats also have significant colour/patterning that lets them camouflage themselves from prey, and some predators. Moreover, the species in this family have dimorphism. This means that no matter the tiger or the jaguar, the females are always smaller in size than the males. Lastly, African lions and cheetahs are the most similar of the cat species as they not only reside in the same area but have short fur and black tear lines that helps prevent reflection of the sun.
Differences
These species in the felidae family share lots of characteristics, but vary in the environment they inhabit. Sumatran tigers, jaguars, African lions, and snow leopards are found in completely different regions. Sumatran tigers are mostly found in the indomalaya region, specifically the island of Sumatra, Indonesia; jaguars are located in Central and South America (mostly in Mexico), and snow leopards are found primarily in the Himalayan mountains from Myanmar all the way to Pakistan and the Gobi Dessert. However, there are two species that cross in the same continent: the African lions and the cheetahs. Even though they're both located close to each other, they still have some habitat differences such as the African lions living in grassy, open plain woodlands or savannas, whereas cheetahs live both there and in dense vegetation and mountainous terrain as they prefer more trees and rocks to hide from prey. Lions also live in prides, but cheetahs prefer to live individually. In addition, the climate of the environment and unique characteristics of the species greatly effects what animal lives where. For example, snow leopards have longer outer fur, and short under fur so they may adapt to their colder climates in alpine meadows, snow fields, and rocky wilderness, while those in warmer climate (e.g Sumatran tigers and jaguars) tend to have shorter fur as they're always warm. Between Sumatran tigers and jaguars, they may both live in warm, damp areas (eg. tropical rainforests, swamps and near rivers) however the tigers live in those areas due to a geographic isolation 10-12 thousand years ago due to rise in sea levels, causing them to be the only subspecies of felidae to live in isolation. Jaguars on the other hand can naturally live in those areas as they enjoy the deciduous trees and are very
strong swimmers, being able to catch their prey in water easily (as well as land).
strong swimmers, being able to catch their prey in water easily (as well as land).