Every cat, from the smallest domestic cat to the largest tiger, is physically equipped to become a successful predator — coat color, legs, claws, mouth, teeth, sight, hearing, and touch are all highly adapted for hunting and devouring prey.
Coat colors help cats blend into their environment while stalking prey. Most cats display a pattern of spots, stripes, or rosettes on a yellowish background, providing camouflage within forest or broken terrain. The lion's uniform coat color blends into the grassy plains where it usually hunts. Lion cubs and the young of other species developing uniform coat color as adults are born with patterned coats, indicating that this was the primitive coloration of all cat species.
Cat legs are often long and muscular, permitting short, high-speed bursts when attacking prey. Cat claws are usually retractable, pulling inward when running, but extending outward when catching or holding victims. Although cheetah claws do not fully retract, the cat's powerful muscles permit speeds of over sixty miles an hour in full pursuit. Claws and muscles make cats agile climbers who can scale trees when escaping enemies or hiding in ambush.
Cat teeth are adapted for seizing and cutting meat. Four elongated, pointed canine fangs grasp prey, and small, chisel-like incisors tear meat. The scissoring action of large carnassial teeth quickly slices meat from carcasses. Food tends to be swallowed in relatively unchewed chunks, then broken down in the digestive tract. Sharp-pointed, recurved papillae on the tongue help remove remnants of flesh from bones and are also used for drinking fluid and cleaning fur.
Many cats are nocturnal hunters, possessing sensory organs well adapted to low light. Their large eyes contain an extrasensitive reflective retinal layer, making cat eyes appear to glow in the dark, while pupils vary swiftly from fully open to tiny slits. Hearing is acute, and ears swivel easily to pinpoint sources of sound. Vibrissae, or whiskers, on nose and head permit cats accurately to locate obstacles and open paths, even when moving through darkness. The vibrissae also inform cats of the best position for gripping prey with their mouths.