There are two aspects to the question, “why do cheetahs have spots?”. The first is why they exist and the answer is because they provide camouflage for the animal so that he/she can be more effective when hunting.
The second aspect of this question is how the spots are formed. That is a far more complicated question. You will notice that there is a similarity between a spotted tabby domestic cat and a cheetah. In fact, there are many wild cats with what appear to be tabby-like coats and variations upon the tabby coat.
In the past, I have suggested that the same genetics are involved in creating the domestic cat’s tabby coat and the spots of a wild cat but this may not be the case. Although a scientist at Stanford University, Christopher Kaelin, says that the same genes that produce the cheetah’s spots also control the house cat’s coat. Notwithstanding this uncertainty, the process is very similar and the reasons for their existence is exactly the same.
So there’s not much difference between tabby cats and cheetahs in respect of their spotted coat. It has been suggested that the pattern creating process is shared by all cat species and that the design and style of the pattern is just due to tweaking by the genes when the cat is developing as an embryo.
Cats, whether they be wild or domestic, are born with their particular coat pattern. When the process of developing the coat pattern is completed it is fixed so as the cat develops and grows up the pattern simply becomes larger and the markings expand but the same pattern exists.
The Science Illustrated website says that the loss of one of the genes called ‘Taqpep’, “encodes a protease1 released from the surface of cells and disrupts these colour patterns without affecting any other part of the cat in question…a diffusible protease helps to organise skin patterns during development.”
I think it fair to say that humans do not yet fully understand the workings of the genes which dictate the creation of the spotted tabby-like coat in cheetahs. Suffice to say that the answer the question “why do cheetahs have spots?” is because they carry certain genes which dictate how the coat colour and pattern is developed during the early years of the cat’s life.
Ref: “Protease” means: enzyme that performs proteolysis.
Hello Michael,
Can you figure out why your cat has tear marks which would be seen as very rare? You must be ‘blinking your eyes’ wondering the reason when oddly leopards do not have tear marks, but larger spots than a cheetah.
I am not going to explain in detail this phenomena or mystery with wild and domestic felines because this very important information can be easily plagiarized over the Internet without receiving any recognition or reward for my in-depth research in this area of unusual pigmentation. I happen to search in areas of science where other experts/scientists do not look, instead they want to believe heavily that genes nearly control everything in a cell including melanism often saying that it is a ‘mutation’ or a recessive-dominant trait.
I have also come up at the same time with a very compelling theory how the zebra got its stripes when the developing embryo starts off with a full brown color but develops stripes during embryo-genesis which slowly turns darker to black after birth. It has nothing to do with camouflage against its main predators nor the bite of the annoying Tsetse fly since it occurs quickly inside the womb of the animal over a number of certain months being protected from the harsh outside conditions. Therefore, the anomaly is happening inside the body of the animal.
One day, after I share this fascinating information with certain scientists, I shall tell you the answer which is much stronger than their theories according to science and the way of nature.
P.S. My tabby cat has a tear marks!
Thanks Albert. If it is inaccurate I’d thought you would have provided the accurate answer.
Your explanation about the spots being for camouflage is inaccurate as well as genes playing a significant role. There are a number of other stronger factors to observe which can also explain how the cheetah got its tear marks which are not noticed on other felines (including domestic cats).