Final answer:
All the mentioned types of cats, including lions, tigers, leopards, and cheetahs, engage in internal fertilization to reproduce.
Step-by-step explanation:
Internal fertilization is a reproductive strategy where sperm fertilizes the egg inside the female's body. This contrasts with external fertilization where the fusion of gametes occurs outside the body, commonly seen in aquatic environments. All the cats mentioned, including lions, tigers, leopards, and cheetahs, exhibit internal fertilization. In terms of their reproductive strategies, these big cats mate with the male directly depositing sperm into the female, ensuring the protection of the embryos from environmental hazards and predators during early developmental stages.
While there are different methods of birth among animals that practice internal fertilization, such as oviparity, viviparity, and ovoviviparity, these large felines give birth to live young. They do not lay eggs; instead, the fertilized eggs develop inside the female until the live young are born, a process known as viviparity. This reproductive method is typical of most mammals, including the mentioned cats: 1) Lion, 2) Tiger, 3) Leopard, and 4) Cheetah.
All the specified types of cats – lion, tiger, leopard, and cheetah – use internal fertilization to reproduce.