Due to the long time spent rearing cubs, snow leopard females mate every second year. Snow leopards are solitary and do not associate with mates unless it is mating season. The dental formula of adult snow leopards is I 3/3, C 1/1, P 3/2, M 1/1. ( Christiansen and Harris, 2012 Ognev, 1935) However, the mean lateromedial width across postorbital constriction and across braincase is slightly larger in females.

In males, the mean anteroposterior width of the upper canine at alveolus is slightly larger than in the females. ( Hemmer, 1972)ĭistinguishable skull features from other large felids are: an overall shortness of the skull, an elevation of the frontal area, more rounded orbits, longer postorbital and zygomatic processes, longer and smaller infraorbital foraman, wider mesopterygoid fossa, flatter osseous bullae, and a marked shortness of palate. In comparison to other closely related felids, snow leopards have much larger nasal cavities, as well as smaller and broader heads relative to their body size.

In addition to thick fur, they have small rounded ears that help to minimize heat loss in their cold, mountainous environments. In winter, fur on the sides is roughly 50 mm, 30 to 55 mm on the back, 60 mm on the tail, and up to 120 mm on the belly. In the summer, fur length is roughly 25 mm on the sides of the snow leopard, and roughly 50 mm on the belly and tail. Snow leopards have long and thick coats that molt twice per year, yielding a longer and thicker coat during the winter. As they grow and mature, these stripes break up into large spots forming two lateral rows of elongated rings along the center of the back. Juvenile snow leopards have longitudinal black stripes across the middle of their back extending from the base of their head to their tail. Rosettes are larger rings encircling smaller spots and are only found on the body and tail, whereas the solid spots are found on the head, neck and lower limbs. The entire body is covered with greyish black spots and rosettes. The base fur color can range anywhere from light gray to smoke gray to cream-yellow, with a white tint generally found on the underbody.

Snow leopards also have relatively long hind legs that are adapted for increased agility and jumping ability in their rugged habitat. The front paws are slightly larger than the hind paws, with an average footpad size of 90 to 100 mm in length and 70 to 80 mm in width. A characteristic of snow leopards is the extremely large size of their paws in comparison to other felids, which are an adaptation for walking on snow. There is no pronounced sexual dimorphism in the species, however males may be slightly larger than females in general. In general, the average mass for an adult is 35 to 45 kg with a total range of 25 to 75 kg across the species. This extremely long tail is used specifically for balance in the steep and rocky terrain they inhabit, but can also be used to cover their extremities during harsh winter weather. Measuring from nose to tail, the length of an average adult snow leopard is 1000 to 1300 mm, with a tail length of 800 to 1000 mm equaling roughly 75% to 90% of total body length. Snow leopards generally avoid dense forest cover and cultivated fields, but are associated with open coniferous forest, as well as arid and semi-arid shrubland, grassland, alpine meadows and barren habitats. In the winter they may migrate to lower elevations of 900 meters, following their preferred prey. Snow leopards live in alpine and subalpine zones from elevations of 900 to 5,500 meters or higher, but generally at altitudes between 3,000 and 4,500 meters. Cliffs and major ridgelines are preferred for daytime resting. Steep, rocky and broken terrain are the preferred bedding areas for snow leopards, specifically on or nearby to a landform edge close to natural vegetation. Snow leopards are found anywhere from the Himalayas to southern and western Mongolia and South Russia, however 60% of the range occurs in China, particularly in the Xinjiang and Tibet autonomous regions, as well as in the Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu provinces. This includes the entire Himalayan mountain system, as well as areas in Bhutan, Nepal and the Siberian region of Russia.

Snow leopards inhabit a large geographic range of approximately 2.3 million square kilometers and are widely but sporadically distributed throughout the high mountain ranges of Central Asia.

Pdfpen snow leopard