Cheetaur babies are called cubs. Cheetaurs have small litter sizes. The maximum number of babies at a time is two in a litter because of body size of the cub. They reach sexual maturity between one and two years for both males and females. Like other African cats, the females tend to stay with their cubs until they are big enough to fend for themselves while males may live in small groups together. A cub reaches adult size about a year after they are born and can hunt for themselves. Based on its genus, scientist believe the expected lifespan of the cheetaur is about ten years.
Other adaptations that they have include having curved ears and facial marking. Their curved ears can rotate slightly to pick up sounds from almost a mile away. The have facial marking like other cheetahs for eye protection from the direct sunlight at the equator (Cheetah Fact, 2018). Since they live in hot, dry areas they have to live around a water source and they will follow prey that do the same. To stay cool, cheetaurs will conserve their energy and will rest for most of the day like other African cats. They will go at great lengths to feed and to escape large lions but other wise like to find shaded areas to rest.
Scientists are currently trying hypothesize how exactly a cheetaur would evolve. Some theories include that the cheetah, with their small gene pool and inbreeding, may have introduced mutant genes for toe numbers and leg length. Some of the traits were advantageous for catching fast prey with large stamina and stayed in the gene pool until there was a speciation event where cheetah and cheetaur were almost reproductively isolated from one another. Those with those traits may have thrived and then continued to breed and continue through the years creating the species we know today as Acinonyx equuasis.
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