LeopardFor other uses, see Leopard (disambiguation). |
| Binomial name |
|---|
| Panthera pardus (Linnaeus, 1758) |
Leopards (Panthera pardus) are one of the four 'big cats' of the genus Panthera. They range in size from one to almost two metres long, and weigh between 30 and 70 kg. The leopard is a sexually dimorphic species, with females being typically around two-thirds the size of males.
Most leopards are light tan or fawn with black spots, but their coat color is highly variable. The spots tend to be smaller on the head, and larger with pale centres on the body.
Originally, it was thought that a leopard was a hybrid between a lion and a panther, and the leopard's common name derives from this belief; leo is the Latin for lion, and pard is an old term meaning panther. In fact, a "panther" can be any of several species of large felid. In North America panther means puma and in South America a panther is a jaguar. Elsewhere in the world a panther is a leopard. Early naturalists distinguished between leopards and panthers not by color (a common misconception), but by the length of the tail - panthers having longer tails than pards (leopards).
A black panther is a melanistic leopard (or melanistic jaguar). These have mutations that cause them to produce more black pigment (eumelanin) than orange-tan pigment (pheomelanin). This results in a chiefly black coat, though the spots of a black panther can still be discerned in certain light as the deposition of pigment is different in the pattern than in the background. There are also white panthers.
Despite its size, this largely nocturnal and arboreal predator is difficult to see in the wild. The best location to see leopards in Africa is in the Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve in South Africa, where leopards are habituated to safari vehicles and are seen on a daily basis at very close range. In Asia, perhaps the best site is the Yala National Park in Sri Lanka, which has the world's highest density of wild leopards, but even here sightings are by no means guaranteed because more than half the park is closed off to the public, allowing the animals to thrive. The recently reopened Wilpattu National Park (also in Sri Lanka), is another good destination for leopard watching.
There are between 7-30 subspecies of leopard (one of them extinct) though not all of these are accepted as distinct by all authorities; below is a list of some of the related animals and their latin names.
As well as spotted leopards and black leopards there are several other rare mutations. One of the most interesting is the King Leopard (see below). Other color forms include red (erythristic) leopards with chocolate brown markings on a reddish background; buff leopards with orange rosettes on a cream background; pale cream leopards with pale markings and blue eyes, leopards without any distinct rosettes and leopards with striped underparts. In Harmsworth Natural History (1910), R Lydekker wrote of leopards with jaguar-like markings: The typical Indian leopard, as already mentioned, has the rosettes large and extending over most of the fore quarters. In the African leopard, on the other hand, the rosettes are everywhere smaller and more crowded, and on the shoulders and head break up into small solid spots. [...]. In ordinary leopards there are no black dots within the light area enclosed by the rosettes, but in some skins from Siam such dots are present, and thus serve to connect the leopard with the jaguar, in which they are normal.
A pseudo-melanistic leopard has a normal background colour, but its excessive markings have coalesced so that its back seems to be an unbroken expanse of black. In some specimens, the area of solid black extends down the flanks and limbs; only a few lateral streaks of golden-brown indicate the presence of normal background colour. Any spots on the flanks and limbs that have not merged into the mass of swirls and stripes are unusually small and discrete, rather than forming rosettes. The face and underparts are paler and dappled like those of ordinary spotted leopards.
In a paper about panthers and ounces of Asia, Pocock used a photo of a leopard skin from southern India; it had large black-rimmed blotches, each containing a number of dots and it resembled the pattern of a jaguar or clouded leopard. Another of Pocock's leopard skins from southern India had the normal rosettes broken up and fused and so much additional pigment that the animal looked like a black leopard streaked and speckled with yellow.
Most other colour morphs of leopards are known only from paintings or museum specimens. There have been very rare examples where the spots of a normal black leopard have coalesced to give a jet black leopard with no visible markings. Pseudo-melanism (abundism) occurs in leopards. The spots are more densely packed than normal and merge to largely obscure the background colour. They may form swirls and, in some places, solid black areas. Unlike a true black leopard the tawny background colour is visible in places. One pseudo-melanistic leopard had a tawny orange coat with coalescing rosettes and spots, but white belly with normal black spots (like a black-and-tan dog).
In Harmsworth Natural History (1910), R Lydekker described pseudo-melanistic leopard: There is, however, a peculiar dark phase in South Africa, a specimen of which was obtained in 1885 in hilly land covered with scrub-jungle, near Grahamstown. The ground-colour of this animal was a rich tawny, with an orange tinge; but the spots, instead of being of the usual rosette-like form, were nearly all small and solid, like those on the head of an ordinary leopard; while from the top of the head to near the root of the tail the spots became almost confluent, producing the appearance of a broad streak of black running down the back. A second skin had the black area embracing nearly the whole of the back and flanks, without showing any trace of the spots, while in those portions of the skin where the latter remained they were of the same form as in the first specimen. Two other specimens are known; the whole four having been obtained from the Albany district. These dark-coloured South African leopards differ from the black leopards of the northern and eastern parts of Africa and Asia in that while in the latter the rosette-like spots are always retained and clearly visible, in the former the rosettes are lost - as, indeed, is to a considerable extent often the case in ordinary African leopards - and all trace of spots disappears from the blacker portions of the skin.
Another pseudo-melanistic leopard skin was described in 1915 by Holdridge Ozro Collins who had purchased it in 1912. It had been killed in Malabar, India that same year. The wide black portion, which glistens like the sheen of silk velvet, extends from the top of the head to the extremity of the tail entirely free from any white or tawny hairs ... In the tiger, the stripes are black, of a uniform character, upon a tawny background, and they run in parallel lines from the centre of the back to the belly. In this skin, the stripes are almost golden yellow, without the uniformity and parallelism of the tiger characteristics, and they extend along the sides in labyrinthine graceful curls and circles, several inches below the wide shimmering black continuous course of the back. The extreme edges around the legs and belly are white and spotted like the skin of a leopard ... The skin is larger than that of a leopard but smaller than that of a full grown tiger.
In May 1936, the British Natural History Museum exhibited the mounted skin of an unusual Somali leopard. The pelt was richly decorated with an intricate pattern of swirling stripes, blotches, curls and fine-line traceries. This is different than a spotted leopard, but similar to a King Cheetah hence the modern cryptozoology term King Leopard. Between 1885 and 1934, six pseudo-melanistic leopards were recorded in the Albany and Grahamstown districts of South Africa. This indicated a mutation in the local leopard population. Other King Leopards have been recorded from Malabar in southwestern India. Shooting for trophies may have wiped out these populations.
Leopards are highly successful predators that hunt a wider variety of African prey than do other big cats from Africa, often feeding on insects, rodents, fish (as do domestic cats, animals with similar hunting techniques) as well as such larger game as antelope. Like domestic cats, but unlike the other great cats, they are known to jump from perches onto prey animals. Large size with the efficiency of the smaller cats makes them extremely dangerous to humans and dogs. Dogs in leopard country should be caged for protection from leopards. In much of its range in Africa leopards compete with animals such as the Spotted Hyena, wild dogs and the lion for prey, and it is not uncommon for them to be chased away from their own kills by other top predators.
Like domestic cats, leopards usually hunt at night or at dawn or dusk. They will stalk their prey before making a short run to catch it. They kill mostly by suffocation, by holding onto the animal's throat, though with smaller animals they may break the neck. Some leopards will carry their prey up a tree to avoid losing it to lions and hyenas. They have been observed carrying prey up to three times their own body weight into trees, demonstrating their great strength and power. Opportunistic hunters, leopards will hunt at any time of day or night if they come across suitable prey. Quite often they can make more than one kill in a day, in which case they cache the first kill while stalking their next victim.
In Africa, the traditional way to hunt leopards is to place a freshly killed animal carcass near the edge of a clearing as bait. The bait is put out at dusk in an area where leopards are known to live and hunt. Upon the arrival of the leopard, one or more spotlights are used to illuminate the beast, and it is shot in the most humane way possible.
The big cats, especially the spotted cats, are easy to confuse for those who see them in captivity or in photographs. The leopard is closely related to, and appears very similar to, the jaguar; it is less often confused with the cheetah. The ranges, habitats, and activities of the three cats make them easy to distinguish in the wild.
Since wild leopards live only in Africa and Asia and wild jaguars live only in the Americas, there is no possibility of confusing them in the wild. There are also visual markings that set them apart. Leopards do not have the spots within the rosettes that jaguars always have, and the jaguar's spots are larger than the leopard's (see the photographs in jaguar). The Amur leopard and the North Chinese leopard are occasional exceptions. The leopard is smaller and less stocky than the jaguar, although it is more heavyset than the cheetah.
Besides appearance, the leopard and jaguar have similar behavior patterns. Jaguars can adapt to a range of habitats from rainforest to ranchlands while leopards are even more adaptable ranging in from deserts and mountains, savanna and woodlands. The jaguar is native to the Americas, while the leopard is native to Asia and Africa.
The cheetah, although its range overlaps extensively with that of the leopard, is easily distinguished. The leopard is heavier, stockier, has a larger head in proportion to the body, and has rosettes rather than spots. The cheetah tends to run rather fast and goes much more quickly than the leopard. The cheetah also has dark 'teardrop'-like markings running down the sides of its face, whereas the leopard does not. Cheetahs are usually diurnal, while leopards are more active at night (nocturnal); cheetahs are also exclusively terrestrial (except when young), while leopards often climb trees.
Prior to the human-induced changes of the last few hundred years, Leopards were the most widely distributed of all felids other than the domestic cat: they were found through most of Africa (with the exception of the Sahara Desert), as well as parts of Asia Minor and the Middle East, India, Pakistan, China, Siberia, much of mainland South-East Asia, and the islands of Java, Zanzibar, and Sri Lanka.
The leopard is doing surprisingly well for a large predator. It is estimated that there are as many as 500,000 leopards in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. But like many other big cats, leopards are increasingly under threat of habitat loss and are facing increased hunting pressure. Because of their stealthy habits and camouflage, they can go undetected even in close proximity to human settlements. Despite the leopard's abilities, it is no match for habitat destruction and poachers, and several subspecies are endangered, namely, the Amur, Anatolian, Barbary, North Chinese, and South Arabian leopards.
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Despite the leopard's abilities, it is no match for habitat destruction and poachers, and several subspecies are endangered, namely, the Amur, Anatolian, Barbary, North Chinese, and South Arabian leopards. [3]. Because of their stealthy habits and camouflage, they can go undetected even in close proximity to human settlements. There have also been a number of fanmade games using the Super Mario World engine. But like many other big cats, leopards are increasingly under threat of habitat loss and are facing increased hunting pressure. Similarly, fans have produced and distributed simple games incorporating Mario on graphing calculators such as the TI-83. It is estimated that there are as many as 500,000 leopards in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. These games, which include Mario Forever and Super Mario: Blue Twilight DX [2], are available to download for free. The leopard is doing surprisingly well for a large predator. They vary from clones of the original games to more novel games that merely incorporate the Mario characters. Prior to the human-induced changes of the last few hundred years, Leopards were the most widely distributed of all felids other than the domestic cat: they were found through most of Africa (with the exception of the Sahara Desert), as well as parts of Asia Minor and the Middle East, India, Pakistan, China, Siberia, much of mainland South-East Asia, and the islands of Java, Zanzibar, and Sri Lanka. These have been produced by fans of the Mario series, not by Nintendo. Cheetahs are usually diurnal, while leopards are more active at night (nocturnal); cheetahs are also exclusively terrestrial (except when young), while leopards often climb trees. There are many PC Mario games distributed over the Internet. The cheetah also has dark 'teardrop'-like markings running down the sides of its face, whereas the leopard does not. Philips made several games, such as Hotel Mario, featuring Nintendo characters for their Philips CD-i which was the result of a compromise with Nintendo over failing to release a joint CD-ROM product. The cheetah tends to run rather fast and goes much more quickly than the leopard. Mario appeared in several educational PC titles in the United States and in some very early games for non-Nintendo systems such as the Atari 2600 and the Philips CD-i. The leopard is heavier, stockier, has a larger head in proportion to the body, and has rosettes rather than spots. Even though Nintendo holds the copyright to Mario in many nations, and they have almost invariably retained these rights for their own use to achieve competitive advantage, there are a few small exceptions. The cheetah, although its range overlaps extensively with that of the leopard, is easily distinguished. Because of this, Mario only appears in Nintendo games on Nintendo systems. The jaguar is native to the Americas, while the leopard is native to Asia and Africa. Mario is the official video game mascot for Nintendo, and is almost synonymous with the Nintendo brand. Jaguars can adapt to a range of habitats from rainforest to ranchlands while leopards are even more adaptable ranging in from deserts and mountains, savanna and woodlands. He also speaks no dialogue in Mario Superstar Baseball. Besides appearance, the leopard and jaguar have similar behavior patterns. Though he has a voice, Mario has been Nintendo's silent protagonist in the role-playing games. The leopard is smaller and less stocky than the jaguar, although it is more heavyset than the cheetah. In the sequence that follows, Mario is the Italian ambassador at the United Nations. The Amur leopard and the North Chinese leopard are occasional exceptions. He is also parodied in the Futurama episode "Anthology of Interest II", when Fry asks the What-If Machine what would life be like as a video game. Leopards do not have the spots within the rosettes that jaguars always have, and the jaguar's spots are larger than the leopard's (see the photographs in jaguar). For example, he appears in two episodes of The Simpsons: in "Marge Be Not Proud", he tries to convince Bart to steal a video game; and in "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass", Mario is an Italian tourist that when visiting Homer (famous after an embarrasing video on the internet) gets trash cans thrown at him - just like Donkey Kong. There are also visual markings that set them apart. Mario's popularity has been parodied and/or referenced in many television shows other than his own. Since wild leopards live only in Africa and Asia and wild jaguars live only in the Americas, there is no possibility of confusing them in the wild. SSX On Tour also features the three and an exclusive Nintendo themed track. The ranges, habitats, and activities of the three cats make them easy to distinguish in the wild. In the GameCube version of NBA Street V3, Mario makes a cameo alongside Luigi and Peach as their own playable basketball team, along with their own exclusive Nintendo themed court. The leopard is closely related to, and appears very similar to, the jaguar; it is less often confused with the cheetah. When you shoot the Mario figure, you regain HP. The big cats, especially the spotted cats, are easy to confuse for those who see them in captivity or in photographs. In Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, he has also appeared on Otacon's desk next to a Yoshi figurine. Upon the arrival of the leopard, one or more spotlights are used to illuminate the beast, and it is shot in the most humane way possible. His brother Luigi appears in both games as a secret character. The bait is put out at dusk in an area where leopards are known to live and hunt. He is considered a well-balanced character and is easy for most players to use. In Africa, the traditional way to hunt leopards is to place a freshly killed animal carcass near the edge of a clearing as bait. Melee. Quite often they can make more than one kill in a day, in which case they cache the first kill while stalking their next victim. He returned with the cast from the original in the 2001 GameCube sequel, Super Smash Bros. Opportunistic hunters, leopards will hunt at any time of day or night if they come across suitable prey. In 1999, Mario was included in the cast for Nintendo's popular fighting game, Super Smash Bros., for the Nintendo 64. They have been observed carrying prey up to three times their own body weight into trees, demonstrating their great strength and power. In Majora's Mask, one of the masks on the Happy Mask Salesman's pack depicted Mario's face. Some leopards will carry their prey up a tree to avoid losing it to lions and hyenas. In Ocarina of Time, a picture of him (Along with Luigi, Princess Peach, Yoshi and Bowser) is visible through a window in the castle courtyard where Link meets Zelda. They kill mostly by suffocation, by holding onto the animal's throat, though with smaller animals they may break the neck. In A Link to the Past, his picture hangs on the wall of a house in Kakariko Village. They will stalk their prey before making a short run to catch it. Mario made brief appearances in three games from Nintendo's other popular franchise, the Legend of Zelda series. Like domestic cats, leopards usually hunt at night or at dawn or dusk. He was also featured on the Game Over screen for the Game Boy version of Qix dressed in Mexican clothes, playing a guitar in the desert next to a cactus with a vulture perched on it. In much of its range in Africa leopards compete with animals such as the Spotted Hyena, wild dogs and the lion for prey, and it is not uncommon for them to be chased away from their own kills by other top predators. However some of his other cameos were more bizarre, such as the one in the Breakout-clone Alleyway which featured Mario on the game's box-art and also at the beginning of each stage where Mario jumps "in to" the paddle. Dogs in leopard country should be caged for protection from leopards. Often he was depicted as the referee, such as in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! or Tennis, but was also the playable character in both versions of Nintendo's early Golf-title. Large size with the efficiency of the smaller cats makes them extremely dangerous to humans and dogs. In the earlier days of the NES and Game Boy, Mario did several cameos, usually in the early sports-titles on both systems. Like domestic cats, but unlike the other great cats, they are known to jump from perches onto prey animals. In addition, a monthly comic based on Super Mario World was included as one of Nintendo Power magazine's first regular comic series. Leopards are highly successful predators that hunt a wider variety of African prey than do other big cats from Africa, often feeding on insects, rodents, fish (as do domestic cats, animals with similar hunting techniques) as well as such larger game as antelope. There was even a book series, the Nintendo Adventure Books. Shooting for trophies may have wiped out these populations. He has also appeared on lunchboxes, t-shirts, in candy form, and as a plush toy. Other King Leopards have been recorded from Malabar in southwestern India. Mario has appeared on his own television show, comic books, and in a feature film where he was played by Bob Hoskins. This indicated a mutation in the local leopard population. Mario), party games (Mario Party series), Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix and over 100 other games. Between 1885 and 1934, six pseudo-melanistic leopards were recorded in the Albany and Grahamstown districts of South Africa. Mario starred in many educational games by Interplay in the mid-1990s (such as Mario is Missing!, which was Luigi's first starring role in a Mario-themed game), RPGs (Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario), sports games (Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Super Mario Strikers, Mario Superstar Baseball), racing games (Mario Kart), puzzle games (Dr. This is different than a spotted leopard, but similar to a King Cheetah hence the modern cryptozoology term King Leopard. Mario games have also been released in genres besides platform games. The pelt was richly decorated with an intricate pattern of swirling stripes, blotches, curls and fine-line traceries. It is widely acclaimed by critics and players alike as one of the greatest games of all time. In May 1936, the British Natural History Museum exhibited the mounted skin of an unusual Somali leopard. While doing so, it managed nonetheless to preserve the feel of earlier Mario games, including many of their gameplay elements and characters. The skin is larger than that of a leopard but smaller than that of a full grown tiger.. In leaping from two to three dimensions, Super Mario 64 replaced the linear obstacle courses of traditional platform games with vast worlds set up with multiple and diverse missions, with an emphasis on exploration. The extreme edges around the legs and belly are white and spotted like the skin of a leopard .. Since then, all console-based Mario games have been in 3D(Aside from the Paper Mario games, which are 2D). In this skin, the stripes are almost golden yellow, without the uniformity and parallelism of the tiger characteristics, and they extend along the sides in labyrinthine graceful curls and circles, several inches below the wide shimmering black continuous course of the back. The premise was to collect the 120 Power Stars in fifteen worlds to free Princess Peach from Bowser. In the tiger, the stripes are black, of a uniform character, upon a tawny background, and they run in parallel lines from the centre of the back to the belly. (Mario's main rival, Sonic, had some cameos in Daytona USA and BUG! prior to Super Mario 64, but it would be a long time until his first truly-3D game). The wide black portion, which glistens like the sheen of silk velvet, extends from the top of the head to the extremity of the tail entirely free from any white or tawny hairs .. Super Mario 64 was one of the first games to feature an established 2D video game character in a 3D environment in 1996. It had been killed in Malabar, India that same year. Many platformer games such as the Pac-Man World series also use the "jump on platforms and enemies" method for play created by Nintendo. Another pseudo-melanistic leopard skin was described in 1915 by Holdridge Ozro Collins who had purchased it in 1912. The Mario series has created or made popular many features seen in modern games, including multiple endings, minibosses, warp zones, etc. These dark-coloured South African leopards differ from the black leopards of the northern and eastern parts of Africa and Asia in that while in the latter the rosette-like spots are always retained and clearly visible, in the former the rosettes are lost - as, indeed, is to a considerable extent often the case in ordinary African leopards - and all trace of spots disappears from the blacker portions of the skin.. 3 holding the record for most copies of a non pack-in video game sold, with over seventeen million copies sold. Two other specimens are known; the whole four having been obtained from the Albany district. Super Mario Bros. sold over 40 million copies (pack-in copies included) and overall, Mario games have sold over approximately 152 million copies worldwide, with Super Mario Bros. A second skin had the black area embracing nearly the whole of the back and flanks, without showing any trace of the spots, while in those portions of the skin where the latter remained they were of the same form as in the first specimen. The game was so successful that he was given a starring role in the first game for Nintendo's Nintendo Entertainment System. The ground-colour of this animal was a rich tawny, with an orange tinge; but the spots, instead of being of the usual rosette-like form, were nearly all small and solid, like those on the head of an ordinary leopard; while from the top of the head to near the root of the tail the spots became almost confluent, producing the appearance of a broad streak of black running down the back. Mario's first appearance was a prominent role in 1981's Donkey Kong. In Harmsworth Natural History (1910), R Lydekker described pseudo-melanistic leopard: There is, however, a peculiar dark phase in South Africa, a specimen of which was obtained in 1885 in hilly land covered with scrub-jungle, near Grahamstown. let Luigi smash Mario with his hammer and then use him as a projectile by hitting him with his hammer once again. One pseudo-melanistic leopard had a tawny orange coat with coalescing rosettes and spots, but white belly with normal black spots (like a black-and-tan dog). Knockback Bros. Unlike a true black leopard the tawny background colour is visible in places. The duo would turn upside down and smash an enemy with their heads. They may form swirls and, in some places, solid black areas. Then Luigi would perform a spin jump, carrying his brother into the air. The spots are more densely packed than normal and merge to largely obscure the background colour. One move allowed him to jump on Luigi's head. Pseudo-melanism (abundism) occurs in leopards. Mario also earned the ability to combine his powers with Luigi's. There have been very rare examples where the spots of a normal black leopard have coalesced to give a jet black leopard with no visible markings. Finally, in Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario could use Fireballs once again, but kept them in the palm of his hand and simply touched enemies briefly with them. Most other colour morphs of leopards are known only from paintings or museum specimens. It also is useful in order to get back onto the edge of the arena. Another of Pocock's leopard skins from southern India had the normal rosettes broken up and fused and so much additional pigment that the animal looked like a black leopard streaked and speckled with yellow. This attack makes coins appear in midair when it connects, and it hits multiple times. In a paper about panthers and ounces of Asia, Pocock used a photo of a leopard skin from southern India; it had large black-rimmed blotches, each containing a number of dots and it resembled the pattern of a jaguar or clouded leopard. He also has an attack called the Super Jump Punch. The face and underparts are paler and dappled like those of ordinary spotted leopards. And, the tornado move, closely related to the spin he does in some earlier games. Any spots on the flanks and limbs that have not merged into the mass of swirls and stripes are unusually small and discrete, rather than forming rosettes. The cape, with the ability to deflect attacks, and the ability to use fire as a close ranged weapon. In some specimens, the area of solid black extends down the flanks and limbs; only a few lateral streaks of golden-brown indicate the presence of normal background colour. Melee", Mario gained a new ability, though not closely related to the original games. A pseudo-melanistic leopard has a normal background colour, but its excessive markings have coalesced so that its back seems to be an unbroken expanse of black. In "Super Smash Bros. In ordinary leopards there are no black dots within the light area enclosed by the rosettes, but in some skins from Siam such dots are present, and thus serve to connect the leopard with the jaguar, in which they are normal.. The prequel to this game, Paper Mario, gives Mario a new, wooden hammer that Mario can use to smash on enemies' heads. [...]. The third gives the ability to roll up into a paper tube in order to get under some obstacles, and with the final ability, Mario can turn into a paper boat at certain points, allowing him to traverse waters. In the African leopard, on the other hand, the rosettes are everywhere smaller and more crowded, and on the shoulders and head break up into small solid spots. The second curse gives the ability to turn sideways, allowing Mario to go through small passageways. In Harmsworth Natural History (1910), R Lydekker wrote of leopards with jaguar-like markings: The typical Indian leopard, as already mentioned, has the rosettes large and extending over most of the fore quarters. The first curse gives the ability to turn into a paper airplane at certain points, allowing Mario to fly through the air. Other color forms include red (erythristic) leopards with chocolate brown markings on a reddish background; buff leopards with orange rosettes on a cream background; pale cream leopards with pale markings and blue eyes, leopards without any distinct rosettes and leopards with striped underparts. These curses are actually helpful, giving him new abilities. One of the most interesting is the King Leopard (see below). In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, as opposed to power-ups, Mario has "curses" placed on him by demons in black chests. As well as spotted leopards and black leopards there are several other rare mutations. Depending on what fruit he is fed, Yoshi can be pink, purple or orange. There are between 7-30 subspecies of leopard (one of them extinct) though not all of these are accepted as distinct by all authorities; below is a list of some of the related animals and their latin names. Also, if Yoshi goes into water that is deep enough for swimming, he will drown. . But, Yoshi has to eat fruit now and again, because if his juice tank empties, he will disappear. The recently reopened Wilpattu National Park (also in Sri Lanka), is another good destination for leopard watching. When ridden, Yoshi has jumping abilities, the ability to eat all fruit and all enemies, and spray special juice, which turns enemies into platforms for a limited period. In Asia, perhaps the best site is the Yala National Park in Sri Lanka, which has the world's highest density of wild leopards, but even here sightings are by no means guaranteed because more than half the park is closed off to the public, allowing the animals to thrive. Mario has to find and carry the fruit that Yoshi wants to the egg, hatching it. The best location to see leopards in Africa is in the Sabi Sand Private Game Reserve in South Africa, where leopards are habituated to safari vehicles and are seen on a daily basis at very close range. Also, Yoshi appears in SMS, as an egg. Despite its size, this largely nocturnal and arboreal predator is difficult to see in the wild. The game in question is centered heavily around this added jumping maneuverability, though it takes away the FLUDD for a few jumping-only segments. There are also white panthers. Given enough water and the right nozzle, Mario can hover across large gaps (while going upward very slightly), propel himself upward with great force, or propel himself forward at phenomenal speeds. This results in a chiefly black coat, though the spots of a black panther can still be discerned in certain light as the deposition of pigment is different in the pattern than in the background. Mario wears the FLUDD in Super Mario Sunshine, which extends his jumping abilities further. These have mutations that cause them to produce more black pigment (eumelanin) than orange-tan pigment (pheomelanin). (The Feather was used as an item in the original Super Mario Kart, allowing a character to perform a large jump). A black panther is a melanistic leopard (or melanistic jaguar). Super Mario World introduced two items that have never appeared since: a smiling crescent moon that gives Mario three extra lives, and the magic feather, an item that gives Mario a cape and allows him to fly. Early naturalists distinguished between leopards and panthers not by color (a common misconception), but by the length of the tail - panthers having longer tails than pards (leopards). Yoshi's basic abilities were expanded upon for Yoshi's Island. Elsewhere in the world a panther is a leopard. In some other cases, the food he consumes can turn into eggs which provide various powerups for Mario. In North America panther means puma and in South America a panther is a jaguar. Yoshi usually comes only in the color green, but in Star Road he can be found in blue, red, and yellow, which, when fully-grown, will have the corresponding special shell effect as a default when any shell is eaten. In fact, a "panther" can be any of several species of large felid. Blue shells make Yoshi fly for a short period of time, red shells make Yoshi spit fireballs, yellow shells make Yoshi conjure dust when he touches the ground from jumping, wiping out any close enemies, and a flashing shell allows for all of these abilities at once. Originally, it was thought that a leopard was a hybrid between a lion and a panther, and the leopard's common name derives from this belief; leo is the Latin for lion, and pard is an old term meaning panther. (In the Game Boy Advance re-release, Luigi, when controlling Yoshi, has the option of spitting out any opponent that would otherwise be eaten). The spots tend to be smaller on the head, and larger with pale centres on the body. Also, Yoshi can eat almost any foe; if he eats a Koopa Shell, he can spit it back out, or swallow it for a possible special power. Most leopards are light tan or fawn with black spots, but their coat color is highly variable. When riding a Yoshi, Mario can clear spiky terrain and stomp foes that he otherwise cannot. The leopard is a sexually dimorphic species, with females being typically around two-thirds the size of males. Super Mario World also features Mario's ally, Yoshi, quite prominently. They range in size from one to almost two metres long, and weigh between 30 and 70 kg. Super Mario World extended this ability to include vertical kicking, as well as keys that could be picked up and put into keyholes to open secret levels. Leopards (Panthera pardus) are one of the four 'big cats' of the genus Panthera. 3 implemented this act of picking things up, but instead of being on top of them to pick them up, Mario must come at them from the side with the pick-up button held, and release the pick-up button to kick it. Leopard is also the codename for the 10.5 version of Apple Computer's Mac OS X operating system, following Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther and Tiger. Super Mario Bros. It was replaced by the Leopard 2. Keys were also present for opening locked doors, but were also handy as a weapon or platform. The Leopard tank was another German-designed main battle tank that first entered service in 1965. 2, he had to pick various objects from the ground and toss them at his enemies to defeat them, ranging from vegetables to his enemies themselves. Leopard was the common name for the VK1602 light tank from Germany during World War II. In Super Mario Bros. Zanzibar Leopard, Panthera pardus adersi (extinct). Mario also has the ability to kick shells around to knock over enemies and break bricks. Sri Lanka Leopard*, Panthera pardus kotiya (endangered). Additionally, two new power-ups were introduced for the DS remake; the Balloon powerup (from Super Mario World), which can only be used by Mario, and a flame, which, if eaten by Yoshi, can be spit onto certain things. South Arabian Leopard, Panthera pardus nimr (critically endangered). Luigi gained the exclusive ability to use the Vanish Cap, and Wario gained the exclusive ability to use the Metal Cap. Sinai Leopard, Panthera pardus jarvisi. Super Mario 64 DS made some changes, making it so that only Mario can use the Wing Cap. North China Leopard*, Panthera pardus japonensis (endangered). Additionally, this game also lets Mario ride on the shells of defeated Koopa Troopas, allowing him to quickly traverse large levels and defeat minor enemies. Java Leopard*, Panthera pardus meas (endangered). The Wing Cap allows Mario to fly, the Vanish Cap allows him to go through certain walls, and the Metal Cap makes him sink in water. Iran Leopard*, Panthera pardus saxicolor. Mario has three different powerups to choose from; the Wing Cap, the Vanish Cap and the Metal Cap. Indo-Chinese Leopard*, Panthera pardus delacouri. Super Mario 64 eliminated the original powerups altogether. Indian Leopard*, Panthera pardus fusca (lower risk, least concern). When Mario flaps these ears, he is able to descend after a jump much slower than normal, and float over long distances. Barbary Leopard, Panthera pardus panthera (critically endangered) Indian Leopard . Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins features the Fire Flower and introduced the Power Carrot, which causes bunny ears to appear on Mario's cap. Anatolian Leopard, Panthera pardus tulliana (critically endangered or possibly extinct). Later the Kuribo's Shoe is replaced with the Goomba's shoe in Super Mario Advance 4, which Peach mentions in one of her letters. Amur Leopard*, Panthera pardus orientalis (critically endangered). 3 also featured the rare Kuribo's Shoe, which only appears in one level. African Leopard*, Panthera pardus pardus (lower risk, least concern). Super Mario Bros. Suit and the Frog Suit. Other popular powerups are the Tanooki Suit, the Hammer Bros. It features the classic Super Mushroom, Fire Flower and Starman, and introduces several others, such as the Super Leaf, which gives Mario the ability to fly, and swing a raccoon tail. 3 introduced several new powerups. Super Mario Bros. (Or in this case, power-downs). 2 (the Japanese version) did not introduce new powerups, other than the Poison Mushroom (which is the opposite of the Super Mushroom, shrinking or killing Mario), making this the first game to add on to the list of powerups. Super Mario Bros. It has not disappeared from the games entirely, in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS, Mario (with help from Yoshi, Luigi and Wario in SM64DS) has to collect enough power stars to free the princess. The Starman gives Mario invincibility for ten seconds, also allowing Mario to defeat enemies just by touching them. In most games, Mario in a special form will be transformed into Super Mario instead of shrinking to regular Mario when hit. Like the Super Mushroom, it has since disappeared from the newer games. In Super Mario Land, instead of fireballs, Mario throws superballs, which bounce off walls. It gives him the ability to throw fireballs from his hands, and in later games, he is able to throw fireballs in a circle when he spins. The Fire Flower either transforms regular Mario (doubling his size), or changes Super Mario into Fire Mario. The later Super Mario Bros. includes the Super Mushroom, the Fire Flower and the Starman. The first game to feature a powerup was Donkey Kong arcade game. It has a hammer in most levels that can be used to hit barrels. Originally, there were few powerups for Mario to collect. If Mario punches twice, the third blow will be a kick. This is generally a move that Mario has in adventure games with no set battle system and is his weakest move. Mario's second-most popular move is a move that most video game characters have- the punch. This is one of the most common power ups in the series; although the 3D games have not used them (the remake of Super Mario 64, Super Mario 64 DS, adds this powerup). If an enemy hits him, he turns back into normal Mario again. In this form Mario has the ability to break bricks with his fist, at the cost of possibly being unable to maneuver in small gaps. Later, Super Mario 64 added the ability to jump higher with consecutive jumps, as well as a long jump, a back-flip, and a ground pound. Super Mario World added the ability to spin-jump, which allows Mario to break blocks beneath him if he is of sufficient size to do so, without the requirement for another power-up or a Koopa Shell. 3 secretly gives little Mario (before a Super Mushroom) the ability to jump off of a wall to attain even more height, notably in the sixth world. Super Mario Bros. When he runs fast, he jumps higher than normal, which, given the right power-up, is required to fly; in such games, he would stick his arms out at his sides when at maximum speed to signify the proper jumping time. At first, that was the extent of it — just jumping — but more abilities were built on top of this. Despite his apparently chubby appearance, Mario's most prominent feature is his athletic jumping ability. Also, Mario may be the more unintelligent brother, as is shown in some games. It is generally agreed that Mario is braver than Luigi; Luigi is the more cautious brother. Donkey Kong, it is shown that he tends to speak his native Italian tongue when he's angry. In Mario vs. Mario is generally kind hearted and heroic. Fans have wanted the two characters to appear in a game together for so long, the concept has become something of a cliché within the gamer community. Mario's major rival was Sega mascot Sonic the Hedgehog who debuted in the early 1990s; the two mascots competed head-to-head for nearly a decade afterward, until around 2001 when a Sonic game showed up on a Nintendo console due to Sega's new third party status, ending a lengthy rivalry. Mario has taken on the role of mascot of Nintendo and has since been extensively merchandised. Super Show, and then in the 1993 feature film Super Mario Bros. This was meant to explain how both Mario and his brother Luigi could be known as the "Mario brothers". The surname "Mario" (which would make his full name Mario Mario) was first used in The Super Mario Bros. [1] The concept behind warp pipes, colored tubes which sometimes transport Mario to another area, was inspired by Star Trek. These ideas was derived from the "Eat me" cakes and "Drink me" potions in the Lewis Carroll story, Alice in Wonderland, after he was forced to shrink the original sketches of Mario because they were too big. There is also a Poison Mushroom, which is slightly different color in most games, and when Mario eats it (Or whatever he does) it makes him a lot smaller for a short period of time. One of his most recognizable contributions to his Mario universe is the Super Mushroom, which would enlarge Mario until he got damaged by an enemy. Miyamoto created many of the elements in the Mario world from ideas he had seen in other media. He also flashes different colors when utilizing a star, which gives him temporary invincibility. Also, in some Mario games, Mario can transform into different forms, each with a different costume, such as Tanooki Mario, Fire Mario, Frog Mario, and Hammer Mario. For example, in Super Mario Strikers, Mario wears an Association Football (soccer) outfit as opposed to overalls. Mario's outfit rarely changes, though he's known to change it on occasion if the situation calls for it. (Incidentally, the original Super Mario Bros. has neither in-game; Mario wears a brown shirt with red overalls). 3 that standardized today's blue overalls-on-red shirt outfit. 2 was the first appearance of his modern outfit (the box had the red overalls-on-blue shirt, but the game itself had a blue overalls-on-red shirt); however, it was Super Mario Bros. The American Super Mario Bros. Originally, he wore red overalls on top of a blue shirt — almost exactly opposite what he wears now. He normally wears blue overalls on top of a red shirt, but such was not always the case. When Mario was first conceived, he looked, more or less, as he does today: a short, plump man with the trademark hat, brown hair, black mustache and overalls. Mario's creator Shigeru Miyamoto has also stated when interviewed that Mario wears a cap because he finds it difficult to draw hair. Mario's distinctive look is due to technology restrictions in the mid-'80s: with a limited number of pixels and colors, the programmers could not animate Mario's movement without making his arms "disappear" if his shirt was a solid color; they did not have the space to give him a mouth or ears; and they could not animate hair, so Mario got overalls, a moustache, sideburns, and a cap to bypass these problems. The game, however, was surprisingly successful, and when the Nintendo Entertainment System was released, Mario was given the starring role in the revolutionary Super Mario Bros. game. During this time, Mario was thrown about from comic book to comic book, while his debut was pending. Mario first appeared in the video game Donkey Kong, despite being developed as a concept character before-hand in the mid-1970s. The pair of brothers team up in order to save Princess Peach (the grown-up version) from a group of alien invaders known as the Shroobs. The game explains the co-existence of the two sets of brothers in this game by saying that Mario and Luigi are sent back in time to a period when they were still babies. His abilities in battle appear to be identical to those of his older self. Baby Mario also stars in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time with his brother, his older self, and his brother's older self. In some game modes, Baby Mario can again find the power-up that turns him into Super Baby Mario, making him temporarily invincible. He then rides on Yoshi's back for the rest of that level of the game. In Yoshi Touch & Go he reclaims the role he held in Yoshi's Island; Baby Mario falls from the sky, this time held up by balloons, as the player guides him by drawing clouds down to the ground where Yoshi waits to catch him. More recently, Baby Mario appeared in Yoshi Touch & Go and Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time for the Nintendo DS. If the time ran out, Mario would be kidnapped by Kamek's Toadies and Yoshi would lose a life. Here, Baby Mario would float within a bubble while bawling loudly, and the player controlling Yoshi would have between 1-30 seconds to recover Baby Mario and hitch him safely on Yoshi's back. Other than this, Baby Mario is remembered for his boisterous and annoying sobs, which he did whenever Yoshi ran into an enemy. However, in some levels, a power-up resembling a star allows him to transform into Super Baby Mario, giving him very high speed, relative invincibility, and the ability to float for short distances. In Yoshi's Island, Baby Mario has a rather passive role, essentially being carried around by different Yoshis for most of the game. He first appeared in the Super NES game Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island where with the help of the Yoshis he saved his brother Luigi from Kamek the Magikoopa. Like the older Mario, he is voiced by Charles Martinet. However, it is generally accepted that these games are outside the continuity of the main Mario series, and therefore do not suggest that Mario and Baby Mario are separate characters in the main storyline. Baby Mario is the infant version of Mario, although he has appeared alongside his older self in Nintendo sports titles such as Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Superstar Baseball and Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. There is no definitive timeline for the events in the various games, most of which could be placed in nearly any order. Over the course of his many games, Mario has rescued a number of women from captivity (including Pauline, Princess Peach, and Princess Daisy) and has become regarded as a great hero in the Mushroom Kingdom. Some have suggested that the brothers were taken to the "Real World" at an early age, while others disagreed this because it contradicts the other games and the Super Mario 64 guide which was written after Yoshi's Island. Newer games and manuals, however, state that he grew up in the fictional Mushroom Kingdom. This fact, in addition to both the cartoon series and the movie, led many to believe that Brooklyn was Mario's original home. Here, Mario and his brother Luigi cleaned out the sewers of Brooklyn. His third appearance in Mario Bros. changed his profession to plumber, which was more fitting with the pipe theme of that game. In his first appearance in Donkey Kong, all that was stated was that he was a carpenter who had to save Pauline from Donkey Kong. Mario is one of the most underdeveloped characters in the Mario universe however, with characters such as Bowser and Princess Peach having more complex, consistent, and unique back stories. Officially, Nintendo producers have stated that Mario's biography is kept simple in order to make the character versatile, and reusable in many different games and situations. Despite his lengthy history, Mario is in many ways an undeveloped character with many details of his accepted biography having been created through a complex lore spawned from the imaginations of comic book artists, cartoon writers, and fans. . In cartoons, he has been voiced by Walker Boone, Captain Lou Albano, Peter Cullen and Tōru Furuya. Ruben voiced him in the PC game Mario Teaches Typing. Ronald B. In the games, the current voice actor for Mario is Charles Martinet. By the time of Donkey Kong Junior's production, Jumpman had officially become Mario. After interrupting a meeting discussing this issue, Segali blasted the president of NOA, Minoru Arakawa, because the firm's rent was overdue. The lead character, known in Japan as "Jumpman" needed an English name. When a Japanese copy of the new Donkey Kong game arrived, the NOA staff had to translate the story and character names into English. Mario was named after Mario Segali, the landlord of Nintendo of America's Seattle home in 1981. Mario's full name is believed to be Mario Mario, while his brother's full name is believed to be Luigi Mario, making them literally the "Mario Bros." According to Shigeru Miyamoto, the movie, and the television series, their surname is indeed Mario, but this issue is rarely dealt with in official Nintendo materials. As of September 2005, the Mario franchise has sold 184 million games, making it by far the best selling franchise in the history of video games. Mario first appeared in Donkey Kong, while Mario's brother Luigi first appeared in Mario Bros. He is Nintendo's mascot, and he is almost certainly the best known video game icon in history, appearing in hundreds of games, many of them bestsellers. Mario (マリオ?), also known as Super Mario and originally Jumpman (ジャンプマン Janpuman?) in Japan, is a video game character created by Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. Super Mario Bros. at GameFAQs. Super Mario Wiki. |