Eminence
by Barbara Keith
Original - Sold
Price
Not Specified
Dimensions
10.000 x 14.000 inches
This piece has been already sold. Please feel free to contact the artist directly regarding this or other pieces.
Click here to contact the artist.
Title
Eminence
Artist
Barbara Keith
Medium
Mixed Media - Watercolor Enhanced Colored Pencil On Hot Press Watercolor Paper
Description
* NOTE: 01-20-13 Print Sale to Hillsboro, OR
The king cheetah is a variety of cheetah with a rare mutation for cream-coloured fur marked with large, blotchy spots and three dark, wide stripes extending from their neck to the tail. In 1926 Major A. Cooper wrote about an animal he had shot near modern-day Harare. Describing the animal, he noted its remarkable similarity to the cheetah, but the body of this individual was covered with fur as thick as that of a snow leopard and the spots merged to form stripes. He suggested that it could be a cross between a leopard and a cheetah. After further similar animals were discovered, it was established that they had non-retractable claws – a characteristic feature of the cheetah.
English zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock described it as a new species by the name of Acinonyx rex ("rex" being Latin for "king", the name translated to "king cheetah"); However, he changed his position on its species status in 1939. English hunter-naturalist Abel Chapman considered it to be a colour morph of the spotted cheetah. Since 1927 the king cheetah has been reported five more times in the wild; an individual was photographed in 1975.
In May 1981 two spotted sisters gave birth at the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Centre (South Africa), and each litter contained one king cheetah. Each sister had mated with a wild male from the Transvaal region (where king cheetahs had been recorded). Further king cheetahs were later born at the Centre. They have been known to exist in Zimbabwe, Botswana and northern Transvaal. In 2012 the cause of this alternative coat pattern was found to be a mutation in the gene for transmembrane aminopeptidase Q (Taqpep), the same gene responsible for the striped "mackerel" versus blotchy "classic" patterning seen in tabby cats. Hence, genetically the king cheetah is simply a variety of the common cheetah and not a separate species. This case is similar to that of the black panthers. The appearance is caused by reinforcement of a recessive allele. As a result, if two mating cheetahs carry the mutated allele, then a quarter of their offspring can be expected to be king cheetahs (Wikipedia).
Complete 2011 after 14.06 hours spread over 7 days.
Uploaded
January 7th, 2011
Statistics
Viewed 2,804 Times - Last Visitor from Fairfield, CT on 04/19/2024 at 12:18 PM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
Comments (36)
Laurel Adams
Barbara, there is no doubt...when it comes to large cats, YOU are the undisputed Master of the Felines in Laurelland... BEST to you...v...the series!
Christopher James
One of your peers nominated this image in the 1000 views Groups nominated images by your fellow artist in the Special Features #14 promotion discussion. Please visit and pass on the love to another artist.....L/F/Tw
Christopher James
Congratulation.....your wonderful work has been featured in the 1000 Views on 1 Image Group l/f/p