Ocelot-LP



The ocelot is a very unique animal that is hunted for its beautiful fur. For this reason, it is endangered. A law has been passed that you cannot hunt this animal due to loss in numbers. The scientific name of this animal is // __**Leopardus pardalis**__. // It is a mammal which means it is a vertebrate that nurses its young. The height of this extraordinary animal can be up to 18 inches long, while the length ranges anywhere from 36-40 inches. It weighs 20-40 pounds as an adult.

The Ocelot is a medium sized cat with a short coat (that can be tawny yellow or gray), black spots, and two black lines running down the sides of its face while a white spot is on the tip of its ear and white markings on its mouth. Adaptations include sharp teeth and claws to hunt prey better and protective coloration-camoflauge to blend in when they hunt prey or when they get hunted. Ocelots eat small to meduin sized terrestrial and nocturnal prey in high abundance such as deer, squirrels, monkeys, frogs, tortises, fish, snakes, land crabs, and birds.

The ocelot lives all through Mexico and the southern US. It can live in thickets, deserts, semi-deserts, costal marshes, and sometimes rainforests. It gets water from lakes, streams, puddles, oasises, and the animals it eats. The ocelot gets food from the animals living in its ecosystem. Some interesting facts include that the ocelot is nocturnal, they're very good swimmers, they live 12-15 years, they have a 15 inch tail, and the name ocelot comes from the mexican word tlalocelotl meaning field-tiger.  **__ Food Chain __ ** Short Desert Grasses <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings; msoasciifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msohansifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msofareastlanguage: EN-US; msobidilanguage: AR-SA; msochartype: symbol; msosymbolfontfamily: Wingdings;">à Gerbil <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-hansi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings; msoasciifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msohansifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msoansilanguage: EN-US; msofareastlanguage: EN-US; msobidilanguage: AR-SA; msochartype: symbol; msosymbolfontfamily: Wingdings;">à Ocelot