A time-lapse photo of a serval pouncing
Characteristics of Servals
As you may have noticed, servals look a lot different from many other cats. All these differences in looks have to do with adaptations. Servals live in savannahs and grasslands in Africa, where everything is brown. Servals are the only cats that have both spots and stripes, which allows them to camouflage perfectly in the grass. This not only helps them stalk their prey, it helps them hide from larger cats who may want to eat them. The serval also has markings on the back of its ears that look like eyes, scaring off potential predators.
Servals are very well adapted cats. They have long legs, big ears, sharp teeth and long necks.They can make vertical jumps of up to 10 feet to catch birds right out of the air. They can also make horizontal leaps of up to 13 feet. Servals have very large ears, enabling it to hear prey from up to 20 feet away. A serval relies just as much on its hearing as it does on its sight, and often doesn't see its prey until it pounces. It can also hear animals that are underground, and will proceed to dig them out. Their sharp teeth allow them to kill their prey quickly, leaving no chance for escape.The serval is the fastest cat, other than the cheetah, and can reach speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.These adaptations help the serval immensely, and it catches about half of the prey it goes after, in comparison to the lion, which only catches about 30 percent of its prey.
Basic Information:
Body Covering: pale yellow fur coat, marked with solid black spots
Weight: 19 3/4 lbs to 39 1/2 lbs
Head and Body Length: 25 1/2in to 35 in
Shoulder Height: 18in to 24in
Tail Length: 10in to 14in
Life Span: Up to 19 Years
Litter Size: 3 kittens on average
Servals are very well adapted cats. They have long legs, big ears, sharp teeth and long necks.They can make vertical jumps of up to 10 feet to catch birds right out of the air. They can also make horizontal leaps of up to 13 feet. Servals have very large ears, enabling it to hear prey from up to 20 feet away. A serval relies just as much on its hearing as it does on its sight, and often doesn't see its prey until it pounces. It can also hear animals that are underground, and will proceed to dig them out. Their sharp teeth allow them to kill their prey quickly, leaving no chance for escape.The serval is the fastest cat, other than the cheetah, and can reach speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.These adaptations help the serval immensely, and it catches about half of the prey it goes after, in comparison to the lion, which only catches about 30 percent of its prey.
Basic Information:
Body Covering: pale yellow fur coat, marked with solid black spots
Weight: 19 3/4 lbs to 39 1/2 lbs
Head and Body Length: 25 1/2in to 35 in
Shoulder Height: 18in to 24in
Tail Length: 10in to 14in
Life Span: Up to 19 Years
Litter Size: 3 kittens on average
For More Information:
On Serval Adaptations: http://www.torontozoo.com/animals/details.asp?AnimalId=681
On Servals: http://www.indiantiger.org/wild-cats/serval.html
On Servals: http://www.indiantiger.org/wild-cats/serval.html
____________________________________________________
This website was created by: Georgina Del Vecho Period 6
This website was created by: Georgina Del Vecho Period 6
