An adult has yellow or tan fur with solid black round or oval spots measuring .75 to 1.5in. in diameter. The spots cover nearly the entire body, only the white throat and abdomen are unmarked. The tail ends with 4-6 black rings and a bushy, white tuft. THe teeth are small to accommodate large nasal passages. An adult cheetah weighs 80-140ib.
Males are a little larger than females.
Cheetahs are sometimes mistaken for leopards - much heavier animals with rosette shaped spots and no tear marks. A cheetah is carnivorous and eats a variety of small animals. While most cats are nocturnal predators, the cheetah is primarily diurnal, hunting in early morning and late afternoon. Since it depends on sight rather than smell, it likes to scan the countryside from a tree limb or the top of a termite mound. Other big cats chase only a few hundred meters.