The Cheetah is a medium sized animal, much smaller than most felines. It is deemed as one that is very fast and very graceful. Many people are in awe of it due to the power it has. It is often confused with the Leopard though which can make it confusing. However, there are quite a few differences for telling them from each other. The full grown adult males can weigh about 150 pounds and be approximately 55 inches long. The females are a bit smaller but due to the fact that they do look very similar they are often mistaken for each other. The size of a Cheetah also depends on the location where it is living and the foods it is consuming.
The cheetah differs notably from the other big cats in terms of morphology. The face and the jaw are unusually shortened and thesagittal crest is poorly developed, possibly to reduce weight and enhance speed. In fact, the skull resembles that of the smaller cats. Another point of similarity to the small cats is the long and flexible spine, in contrast with the stiff and short one of other large felids. The cheetah has a total of 30 teeth. The sharp, narrow cheek teeth help in tearing flesh, whereas the small and flat canine teeth bite the throat of the prey to suffocate it. Males have slightly bigger heads with wider incisors and longer mandibles than females. The muscles between the skull and jaw are short, and thus do not allow the cheetah to open its mouth as much as other cats.
The cheetah breathes from its small nose. When it's running it breathes faster because the air comes inside the nose. In zoos, cheetahs may live up to 17 years, though the average is 8 to 12. No one has studied cheetah longevity in the wild, though cub mortality is very high and about 90 percent die before they are 3 months old.