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98-534: Also see text The cougar ( Puma concolor ) ( / ˈ k uː ɡ ər / , KOO-gər ), also known as the panther , mountain lion , catamount and puma , is a large cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North , Central and South America , making it the most widely distributed wild, terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere , and one of the most widespread in the world. Its range spans

196-557: A species : see Botanical name and Specific name (zoology) . The rules for the scientific names of organisms are laid down in the nomenclature codes , which allow each species a single unique name that, for animals (including protists ), plants (also including algae and fungi ) and prokaryotes ( bacteria and archaea ), is Latin and binomial in form; this contrasts with common or vernacular names , which are non-standardized, can be non-unique, and typically also vary by country and language of usage. Except for viruses ,

294-454: A comprehensive literature review of more than 160 studies on cougar ecology, ecological interactions with 485 other species in cougar-inhabited ecosystems have been shown to involve different areas of interaction, ranging from the use of other species as food sources and prey, fear effects on potential prey, effects from carcass remains left behind, to competitive effects on other predator species in shared habitat. The most common research topic in

392-562: A female reaches estrous again, her offspring must disperse or the male will kill them. Males tend to disperse further than females. One study has shown a high mortality rate among cougars that travel farthest from their maternal range, often due to conflicts with other cougars. In a study area in New Mexico , males dispersed farther than females, traversed large expanses of non-cougar habitat and were probably most responsible for nuclear gene flow between habitat patches. Life expectancy in

490-759: A female's litter can have multiple paternities. Copulation is brief but frequent. Chronic stress can result in low reproductive rates in captivity as well as in the field. Gestation is 82–103 days long. Only females are involved in parenting. Litter size is between one and six cubs, typically two. Caves and other alcoves that offer protection are used as litter dens. Born blind, cubs are completely dependent on their mother at first and begin to be weaned at around three months of age. As they grow, they go out on forays with their mother, first visiting kill sites and, after six months, beginning to hunt small prey on their own. Kitten survival rates are just over one per litter. Juveniles remain with their mothers for one to two years. When

588-708: A few also to wetlands and mountainous terrain. Their activity patterns range from nocturnal and crepuscular to diurnal , depending on their preferred prey species. Reginald Innes Pocock divided the extant Felidae into three subfamilies: the Pantherinae , the Felinae and the Acinonychinae, differing from each other by the ossification of the hyoid apparatus and by the cutaneous sheaths which protect their claws. This concept has been revised following developments in molecular biology and techniques for

686-477: A foremost crepuscular and nocturnal activity pattern in a ranching area in southern Argentina. Home range sizes and overall cougar abundance depend on terrain, vegetation, and prey abundance. Research suggests a lower limit of 25 km (9.7 sq mi) and upper limit of 1,300 km (500 sq mi) of home range for males. Large male home ranges of 150 to 1,000 km (58 to 386 sq mi) with female ranges half that size. One female adjacent to

784-502: A half of the body length, although with some exceptions, like the Lynx species and margay ( Leopardus wiedii ). Cat species vary greatly in body and skull sizes, and weights: Most cat species have a haploid number of 18 or 19. Central and South American cats have a haploid number of 18, possibly due to the combination of two smaller chromosomes into a larger one. Felidae have type IIx muscle fibers three times more powerful than

882-467: A kill to a preferred spot, covers it with brush, and returns to feed over a period of days. The cougar is generally reported to not be a scavenger , but deer carcasses left exposed for study were scavenged by cougars in California, suggesting more opportunistic behavior. Aside from humans, no species preys upon mature cougars in the wild, although conflicts with other predators or scavengers occur. Of

980-510: A large pack of seven to 11 wolves killing a female cougar and her kittens, while in nearby Sun Valley, Idaho , a 2-year-old male cougar was found dead, apparently killed by a wolf pack. Conversely, one-to-one confrontations tend to be dominated by the cat, and there are various documented accounts where wolves have been ambushed and killed, including adult male specimens. Wolves more broadly affect cougar population dynamics and distribution by dominating territory and prey opportunities, and disrupting

1078-651: A later homonym of a validly published name is a nomen illegitimum or nom. illeg. ; for a full list refer to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants and the work cited above by Hawksworth, 2010. In place of the "valid taxon" in zoology, the nearest equivalent in botany is " correct name " or "current name" which can, again, differ or change with alternative taxonomic treatments or new information that results in previously accepted genera being combined or split. Prokaryote and virus codes of nomenclature also exist which serve as

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1176-628: A long time and redescribed as new by a range of subsequent workers, or if a range of genera previously considered separate taxa have subsequently been consolidated into one. For example, the World Register of Marine Species presently lists 8 genus-level synonyms for the sperm whale genus Physeter Linnaeus, 1758, and 13 for the bivalve genus Pecten O.F. Müller, 1776. Within the same kingdom, one generic name can apply to one genus only. However, many names have been assigned (usually unintentionally) to two or more different genera. For example,

1274-521: A molecular level but that only six phylogeographic groups exist. The Florida panther samples showed a low microsatellite variation, possibly due to inbreeding . Following this research, the authors of Mammal Species of the World recognized the following six subspecies in 2005: In 2006, the Florida panther was still referred to as a distinct subspecies P. c. coryi in research works. As of 2017,

1372-422: A powerful leap onto the back of its prey and a suffocating neck bite. The cougar can break the neck of some of its smaller prey with a strong bite and momentum bearing the animal to the ground. Kills are generally estimated around one large ungulate every two weeks. The period shrinks for females raising young, and may be as short as one kill every three days when cubs are nearly mature around 15 months. The cat drags

1470-483: A puma habituates to humans or is in a condition of severe starvation. Attacks are most frequent during late spring and summer when juvenile cougars leave their mothers and search for new territory. Felidae Felidae ( / ˈ f ɛ l ɪ d iː / ) is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats . A member of this family is also called a felid ( / ˈ f iː l ɪ d / ). The 41 extant Felidae species exhibit

1568-409: A reference for designating currently accepted genus names as opposed to others which may be either reduced to synonymy, or, in the case of prokaryotes, relegated to a status of "names without standing in prokaryotic nomenclature". An available (zoological) or validly published (botanical) name that has been historically applied to a genus but is not regarded as the accepted (current/valid) name for

1666-619: A small ancestral group. Culver et al. propose the original North American cougar population was extirpated during the Pleistocene extinctions some 10,000 years ago, when other large mammals, such as Smilodon , also disappeared. North America was then repopulated by South American cougars . A coprolite identified as from a cougar was excavated in Argentina's Catamarca Province and dated to 17,002–16,573 years old. It contained Toxascaris leonina eggs. This finding indicates that

1764-427: A taxon; however, the names published in suppressed works are made unavailable via the relevant Opinion dealing with the work in question. In botany, similar concepts exist but with different labels. The botanical equivalent of zoology's "available name" is a validly published name . An invalidly published name is a nomen invalidum or nom. inval. ; a rejected name is a nomen rejiciendum or nom. rej. ;

1862-455: A total of c. 520,000 published names (including synonyms) as at end 2019, increasing at some 2,500 published generic names per year. "Official" registers of taxon names at all ranks, including genera, exist for a few groups only such as viruses and prokaryotes, while for others there are compendia with no "official" standing such as Index Fungorum for fungi, Index Nominum Algarum and AlgaeBase for algae, Index Nominum Genericorum and

1960-813: A tree. The cougar has the most extensive range of any wild land animal in the Americas, spanning 110 degrees of latitude from the Yukon in Canada to the southern Andes in Chile. The species was extirpated from eastern North America, aside from Florida, but they may be recolonizing their former range and isolated populations have been documented east of their contemporary ranges in both the Midwestern US and Canada. The cougar lives in all forest types, lowland and mountainous deserts, and in open areas with little vegetation up to an elevation of 5,800 m (19,000 ft). In

2058-501: Is Latin for "of uniform color". It was placed in the genus Puma by William Jardine in 1834. This genus is part of the Felinae . The cougar is most closely related to the jaguarundi and the cheetah. Following Linnaeus's first scientific description of the cougar, 32 cougar zoological specimens were described and proposed as subspecies until the late 1980s. Genetic analysis of cougar mitochondrial DNA indicates that many of these are too similar to be recognized as distinct at

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2156-479: Is territorial and lives at low population densities. Individual home ranges depend on terrain, vegetation and abundance of prey. While large, it is not always the dominant apex predator in its range, yielding prey to other predators. It is reclusive and mostly avoids people. Fatal attacks on humans are rare but increased in North America as more people entered cougar habitat and built farms. The cougar

2254-585: Is a dewclaw . The larger front feet and claws are adaptations for clutching prey. Cougars are slender and agile members of the Felidae . They are the fourth largest cat species worldwide; adults stand about 60 to 90 cm (24 to 35 in) tall at the shoulders. Adult males are around 2.4 m (7 ft 10 in) long from nose to tail tip, and females average 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in), with overall ranges between 1.50 to 2.75 m (4 ft 11 in to 9 ft 0 in) nose to tail suggested for

2352-465: Is a learned behavior and they do not generally recognize humans as prey. In a 10-year study in New Mexico of wild cougars who were not habituated to humans, the animals did not exhibit threatening behavior to researchers who approached closely (median distance=18.5 m; 61 feet) except in 6% of cases; 14 ⁄ 16 of those were females with cubs. Attacks on people, livestock, and pets may occur when

2450-472: Is a mostly solitary animal. Only mothers and kittens live in groups, with adults meeting rarely. While generally loners, cougars will reciprocally share kills and seem to organize themselves into small communities defined by the territories of dominant males. Cats within these areas socialize more frequently with each other than with outsiders. In the vicinity of a cattle ranch in northern Mexico, cougars exhibited nocturnal activity that overlapped foremost with

2548-556: Is afforded protection under the Endangered Species Act . The Texas Mountain Lion Conservation Project was launched in 2009 and aimed at raising local people's awareness of the status and ecological role of the cougar and mitigating conflict between landowners and cougars. The cougar is threatened by habitat loss , habitat fragmentation , and depletion of its prey base due to poaching . Hunting

2646-612: Is discouraged by both the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants , there are some five thousand such names in use in more than one kingdom. For instance, A list of generic homonyms (with their authorities), including both available (validly published) and selected unavailable names, has been compiled by the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG). The type genus forms

2744-625: Is known about their evolutionary history is based on mitochondrial DNA analysis. Significant confidence intervals exist with suggested dates. In the latest genomic study of the Felidae, the common ancestor of today's Leopardus , Lynx , Puma , Prionailurus , and Felis lineages migrated across the Bering land bridge into the Americas 8.0 to 8.5 million years ago. The lineages subsequently diverged in that order. North American felids then invaded South America 2–4   Mya as part of

2842-423: Is largely solitary. Its activity pattern varies from diurnality and cathemerality to crepuscularity and nocturnality between protected and non-protected areas, and is apparently correlated with the presence of other predators, prey species, livestock and humans. It is an ambush predator that pursues a wide variety of prey. Ungulates , particularly deer , are its primary prey, but it also hunts rodents . It

2940-400: Is legal in the western United States. In Florida, heavy traffic causes frequent accidents involving cougars. Highways are a major barrier to the dispersal of cougars. The cougar populations in California are becoming fragmented with the increase in human population and infrastructure growth in the state. Human–wildlife conflict in proximity of 5 km (1.9 sq mi) of cougar habitat

3038-662: Is less. Whereas the size of cougars tends to increase as much as distance from the equator increases, which crosses the northern portion of South America, jaguars are generally smaller north of the Amazon River in South America and larger south of it. For example, while South American jaguars are comparatively large, and may exceed 90 kg (200 lb), North American jaguars in Mexico's Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve weigh approximately 50 kg (110 lb), about

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3136-474: Is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List . Intensive hunting following European colonization of the Americas and ongoing human development into cougar habitat has caused populations to decline in most parts of its historical range. In particular, the eastern cougar population is considered to be mostly locally extinct in eastern North America since the early 20th century, with the exception of

3234-508: Is lower in areas closer to the equator . A survey of North America research found 68% of prey items were ungulates, especially deer. Only the Florida panther showed variation, often preferring feral hogs and armadillos . Cougars have been known to prey on introduced gemsbok populations in New Mexico . One individual cougar was recorded as hunting 29 gemsbok, which made up 58% of its recorded kills. Most gemsbok kills were neonates, but some adults were also known to have been taken. Elsewhere in

3332-503: Is pronounced in areas with a median human density of 32.48 inhabitants/km (84.1 inhabitants/sq mi) and a median livestock population density of 5.3 heads/km (14 heads/sq mi). Conflict is generally lower in areas more than 16.1 km (10.0 mi) away from roads and 27.8 km (17.3 mi) away from settlements. Due to the expanding human population , cougar ranges increasingly overlap with areas inhabited by humans. Attacks on humans are very rare, as cougar prey recognition

3430-460: Is somewhat arbitrary. Although all species within a genus are supposed to be "similar", there are no objective criteria for grouping species into genera. There is much debate among zoologists about whether enormous, species-rich genera should be maintained, as it is extremely difficult to come up with identification keys or even character sets that distinguish all species. Hence, many taxonomists argue in favor of breaking down large genera. For instance,

3528-474: Is the type species , and the generic name is permanently associated with the type specimen of its type species. Should the specimen turn out to be assignable to another genus, the generic name linked to it becomes a junior synonym and the remaining taxa in the former genus need to be reassessed. In zoological usage, taxonomic names, including those of genera, are classified as "available" or "unavailable". Available names are those published in accordance with

3626-667: Is the oldest known cat that occurred after the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event about 33.9  million years ago ; fossil remains were excavated in France and Mongolia's Hsanda Gol Formation . Fossil occurrences indicate that the Felidae arrived in North America around 18.5  million years ago . This is about 20   million years later than the Ursidae and the Nimravidae , and about 10 million years later than

3724-609: Is the oldest known pantherine cat dated to the late Messinian to early Zanclean ages about 5.95 to 4.1 million years ago . A fossil skull was excavated in 2010 in Zanda County on the Tibetan Plateau . Panthera palaeosinensis from North China probably dates to the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene . The skull of the holotype is similar to that of a lion or leopard. Panthera zdanskyi dates to

3822-696: The Yukon , British Columbia and Alberta provinces of Canada , the Rocky Mountains and areas in the western United States . Further south, its range extends through Mexico to the Amazon Rainforest and the southern Andes Mountains in Patagonia . It is an adaptable generalist species , occurring in most American habitat types. It prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking but also lives in open areas. The cougar

3920-644: The Canidae . In the Early Miocene about 20 to 16.6 million years ago , Pseudaelurus lived in Africa. Its fossil jaws were also excavated in geological formations of Europe's Vallesian , Asia's Middle Miocene and North America's late Hemingfordian to late Barstovian epochs. In the Early or Middle Miocene, the saber-toothed Machairodontinae evolved in Africa and migrated northwards in

4018-596: The Cockscomb Basin of Belize were nocturnal but avoided each other. In a protected cloud forest in the central Andes of Colombia, cougars were active from late afternoon to shortly before sunrise and sometimes during noon and early afternoon. In protected areas of the Madidi - Tambopata Landscape in Bolivia and Peru, cougars were active throughout the day but with a tendency to nocturnal activity that overlapped with

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4116-761: The Feliformia . All members of the cat family have the following characteristics in common: The colour, length and density of their fur are very diverse. Fur colour covers the gamut from white to black, and fur patterns from distinctive small spots, and stripes to small blotches and rosettes . Most cat species are born with spotted fur, except the jaguarundi ( Herpailurus yagouaroundi ), Asian golden cat ( Catopuma temminckii ) and caracal ( Caracal caracal ). The spotted fur of lion ( Panthera leo ), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) and cougar ( Puma concolor ) cubs change to uniform fur during their ontogeny . Those living in cold environments have thick fur with long hair, like

4214-583: The Gelasian about 2.55 to 2.16 million years ago . Several fossil skulls and jawbones were excavated in northwestern China. Panthera gombaszoegensis is the earliest known pantherine cat that lived in Europe about 1.95 to 1.77 million years ago . Living felids fall into eight evolutionary lineages or species clades . Genotyping of the nuclear DNA of all 41 felid species revealed that hybridization between species occurred in

4312-692: The Great American Interchange , following the formation of the Isthmus of Panama . The cheetah lineage is suggested by some studies to have diverged from the Puma lineage in the Americas and migrated back to Asia and Africa, while other research suggests the cheetah diverged in the Old World itself. A high level of genetic similarity has been found among North American cougar populations, suggesting they are all fairly recent descendants of

4410-621: The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ; the earliest such name for any taxon (for example, a genus) should then be selected as the " valid " (i.e., current or accepted) name for the taxon in question. Consequently, there will be more available names than valid names at any point in time; which names are currently in use depending on the judgement of taxonomists in either combining taxa described under multiple names, or splitting taxa which may bring available names previously treated as synonyms back into use. "Unavailable" names in zoology comprise names that either were not published according to

4508-824: The International Plant Names Index for plants in general, and ferns through angiosperms, respectively, and Nomenclator Zoologicus and the Index to Organism Names for zoological names. Totals for both "all names" and estimates for "accepted names" as held in the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG) are broken down further in the publication by Rees et al., 2020 cited above. The accepted names estimates are as follows, broken down by kingdom: The cited ranges of uncertainty arise because IRMNG lists "uncertain" names (not researched therein) in addition to known "accepted" names;

4606-772: The Late Miocene . With their large upper canines , they were adapted to prey on large-bodied megaherbivores . Miomachairodus is the oldest known member of this subfamily. Metailurus lived in Africa and Eurasia about 8 to 6 million years ago . Several Paramachaerodus skeletons were found in Spain. Homotherium appeared in Africa, Eurasia and North America around 3.5  million years ago , and Megantereon about 3  million years ago . Smilodon lived in North and South America from about 2.5  million years ago . This subfamily became extinct in

4704-551: The Late Pleistocene . Results of mitochondrial analysis indicate that the living Felidae species descended from a common ancestor , which originated in Asia in the Late Miocene epoch. They migrated to Africa, Europe and the Americas in the course of at least 10 migration waves during the past ~11 million years. Low sea levels and interglacial and glacial periods facilitated these migrations. Panthera blytheae

4802-814: The San Andres Mountains was found with a big range of 215 km (83 sq mi), necessitated by poor prey abundance. Research has shown cougar abundances from 0.5 animals to as many as seven per 100 km (39 sq mi). Male home ranges include or overlap with females but, at least where studied, not with those of other males. The home ranges of females overlap slightly. Males create scrapes composed of leaves and duff with their hind feet, and mark them with urine and sometimes feces . When males encounter each other, they vocalize and may engage in violent conflict if neither backs down. Cougars communicate with various vocalizations. Aggressive sounds include growls, spits, snarls, and hisses. During

4900-880: The Santa Ana Mountains , it prefers steep canyons, escarpments, rim rocks and dense brush. In Mexico, it was recorded in the Sierra de San Carlos . In the Yucatán Peninsula , it inhabits secondary and semi- deciduous forests in El Eden Ecological Reserve . In El Salvador , it was recorded in the lower montane forest in Montecristo National Park and in a river basin in the Morazán Department above 700 m (2,300 ft) in 2019. In Colombia , it

4998-404: The platypus belongs to the genus Ornithorhynchus although George Shaw named it Platypus in 1799 (these two names are thus synonyms ) . However, the name Platypus had already been given to a group of ambrosia beetles by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1793. A name that means two different things is a homonym . Since beetles and platypuses are both members of the kingdom Animalia,

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5096-458: The snow leopard ( Panthera uncia ) and the Pallas's cat ( Otocolobus manul ). Those living in tropical and hot climate zones have short fur. Several species exhibit melanism with all-black individuals, cougars are notable for lacking melanism but leucism and albinism are present in cougars along with many other felids. In the great majority of cat species, the tail is between a third and

5194-598: The Cat Classification Taskforce of the Cat Specialist Group recognizes only two subspecies as valid : Lynx Cheetah A. jubatus [REDACTED] Cougar [REDACTED] Jaguarundi H. yagouaroundi [REDACTED] Felis Otocolobus Prionailurus The family Felidae is believed to have originated in Asia about 11 million years ago ( Mya ). Taxonomic research on felids remains partial, and much of what

5292-473: The French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656–1708) is considered "the founder of the modern concept of genera". The scientific name (or the scientific epithet) of a genus is also called the generic name ; in modern style guides and science, it is always capitalised. It plays a fundamental role in binomial nomenclature , the system of naming organisms , where it is combined with the scientific name of

5390-526: The United States. Establishing wildlife corridors and protecting sufficient range areas are critical for the sustainability of cougar populations. Research simulations showed that it faces a low extinction risk in areas larger than 2,200 km (850 sq mi). Between one and four new individuals entering a population per decade markedly increases persistence, thus highlighting the importance of habitat corridors. The Florida panther population

5488-548: The activity of calves . In a nature reserve in central Mexico, the activity of cougars was crepuscular and nocturnal, overlapping largely with the activity of the nine-banded armadillo ( Dasypus novemcinctus ). Cougars in the montane Abra-Tanchipa Biosphere Reserve in southeastern Mexico displayed a cathemeral activity pattern. Data from 12 years of camera trapping in the Pacific slope and Talamanca Cordillera of Costa Rica showed cougars as cathemeral. Both cougars and jaguars in

5586-902: The activity of main prey species. During an 8-year-long study in a modified landscape in southeastern Brazil, male cougars were primarily nocturnal, but females were active at night and day. Cougars were diurnal in the Brazilian Pantanal , but crepuscular and nocturnal in protected areas in the Cerrado , Caatinga and ecotone biomes. Cougars in the Atlantic Forest were active throughout the day but displayed peak activity during early mornings in protected areas and crepuscular and nocturnal activity in less protected areas. In central Argentina, cougars were active day and night in protected areas but were active immediately after sunset and before sunrise outside protected areas. Cougars displayed

5684-591: The analysis of morphological data. Today, the living Felidae are divided into two subfamilies: the Pantherinae and Felinae, with the Acinonychinae subsumed into the latter. Pantherinae includes five Panthera and two Neofelis species , while Felinae includes the other 34 species in 12 genera . The first cats emerged during the Oligocene about 25 million years ago , with the appearance of Proailurus and Pseudaelurus . The latter species complex

5782-537: The average female in the same region averages about 42 kg (93 lb). On average, adult male cougars in British Columbia weigh 56.7 kg (125 lb) and adult females 45.4 kg (100 lb), though several male cougars in British Columbia weighed between 86.4 and 95.5 kg (190 and 211 lb). Depending on the locality, cougars can be smaller or bigger than jaguars but are less muscular and not as powerfully built, so on average, their weight

5880-442: The base for higher taxonomic ranks, such as the family name Canidae ("Canids") based on Canis . However, this does not typically ascend more than one or two levels: the order to which dogs and wolves belong is Carnivora ("Carnivores"). The numbers of either accepted, or all published genus names is not known precisely; Rees et al., 2020 estimate that approximately 310,000 accepted names (valid taxa) may exist, out of

5978-432: The cats take prey more frequently and spend less time feeding on each kill. Unlike several subordinate predators from other ecosystems, cougars do not appear to exploit spatial or temporal refuges to avoid competitors. The gray wolf and the cougar compete more directly for prey, mostly in winter. Packs of wolves can steal cougars' kills, and there are some documented cases of cougars being killed by them. One report describes

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6076-465: The cougar and the parasite have existed in South America since at least the Late Pleistocene . The oldest fossil record of a cougar ( Puma concolor ) in South America (Argentina) is a partial skull from the late Calabrian ( Ensenadan ) age. The head of the cougar is round, and the ears are erect. Its powerful forequarters, neck, and jaw serve to grasp and hold large prey. It has four retractile claws on its hind paws and five on its forepaws, of which one

6174-510: The cougar diet. Learned, individual prey recognition was observed, as some cougars rarely killed bighorn sheep, while others relied heavily on the species. In the Central and South American cougar range area, the ratio of deer in the diet declines. Small to mid-sized mammals, including large rodents such as the capybara , are preferred. Ungulates accounted for only 35% of prey items in one survey, about half that of North America. Competition with

6272-422: The cougar. The cougar has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008. However, it is also listed on CITES Appendix II . Hunting it is prohibited in California, Costa Rica , Honduras , Nicaragua , Guatemala , Panama , Venezuela , Colombia, French Guiana , Suriname , Bolivia , Brazil, Chile, Paraguay , Uruguay and most of Argentina. Hunting is regulated in Canada, Mexico, Peru , and

6370-433: The course of evolution within the majority of the eight lineages. Modelling of felid coat pattern transformations revealed that nearly all patterns evolved from small spots. Traditionally, five subfamilies had been distinguished within the Felidae based on phenotypical features: the Pantherinae , the Felinae , the Acinonychinae, and the extinct Machairodontinae and Proailurinae . Acinonychinae used to only contain

6468-656: The feline's behavior. Preliminary research in Yellowstone , for instance, has shown displacement of the cougar by wolves. One researcher in Oregon noted: "When there is a pack around, cougars are not comfortable around their kills or raising kittens [...] A lot of times a big cougar will kill a wolf, but the pack phenomenon changes the table." Both species are capable of killing mid-sized predators, such as bobcats , Canada lynxes , wolverines and coyotes , and tend to suppress their numbers. Although cougars can kill coyotes,

6566-632: The following cladogram: Sunda clouded leopard (N. diardi) Clouded leopard ( N. nebulosa ) Tiger (P. tigris) Snow leopard (P. uncia) Jaguar (P. onca) Lion ( P. leo ) Leopard ( P. pardus ) Serval (L. serval) African golden cat ( C. aurata ) Caracal ( C. caracal ) Andean mountain cat ( L. jacobita ) Genus The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomists . The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including

6664-446: The form "author, year" in zoology, and "standard abbreviated author name" in botany. Thus in the examples above, the genus Canis would be cited in full as " Canis Linnaeus, 1758" (zoological usage), while Hibiscus , also first established by Linnaeus but in 1753, is simply " Hibiscus L." (botanical usage). Each genus should have a designated type , although in practice there is a backlog of older names without one. In zoology, this

6762-737: The generic name (or its abbreviated form) still forms the leading portion of the scientific name, for example, Canis lupus lupus for the Eurasian wolf subspecies, or as a botanical example, Hibiscus arnottianus ssp. immaculatus . Also, as visible in the above examples, the Latinised portions of the scientific names of genera and their included species (and infraspecies, where applicable) are, by convention, written in italics . The scientific names of virus species are descriptive, not binomial in form, and may or may not incorporate an indication of their containing genus; for example,

6860-866: The genus Acinonyx but this genus is now within the Felinae subfamily. The following cladogram based on Piras et al. (2013) depicts the phylogeny of basal living and extinct groups. † Proailurus bourbonnensis † Proailurus lemanensis † Proailurus major † Pseudaelurus quadridentatus † Pseudaelurus cuspidatus † Pseudaelurus guangheesis † Machairodontinae [REDACTED] † Hyperailurictis intrepidus † Hyperailurictis marshi † Hyperailurictis stouti † Hyperailurictis validus † Hyperailurictis skinneri † Sivaelurus chinjiensis † Styriofelis turnauensis † Styriofelis romieviensis Felinae [REDACTED] † Miopanthera lorteti † Miopanthera pamiri Pantherinae [REDACTED] The phylogenetic relationships of living felids are shown in

6958-597: The greatest diversity in fur patterns of all terrestrial carnivores. Cats have retractile claws , slender muscular bodies and strong flexible forelimbs. Their teeth and facial muscles allow for a powerful bite. They are all obligate carnivores , and most are solitary predators ambushing or stalking their prey. Wild cats occur in Africa , Europe , Asia and the Americas . Some wild cat species are adapted to forest and savanna habitats , some to arid environments, and

7056-432: The idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: Moreover, genera should be composed of phylogenetic units of the same kind as other (analogous) genera. The term "genus" comes from Latin genus , a noun form cognate with gignere ('to bear; to give birth to'). The Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus popularized its use in his 1753 Species Plantarum , but

7154-665: The isolated Florida panther subpopulation. The word cougar is borrowed from the Portuguese çuçuarana , via French; it was originally derived from the Tupi language . A current form in Brazil is suçuarana . In the 17th century, Georg Marcgrave named it cuguacu ara . Marcgrave's rendering was reproduced in 1648 by his associate Willem Piso . Cuguacu ara was then adopted by John Ray in 1693. In 1774, Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon converted cuguacu ara to cuguar , which

7252-862: The large predators in Yellowstone National Park – the grizzly and black bears , gray wolf and cougar – the massive grizzly bear appears dominant, often (though not always) able to drive a gray wolf pack, black bear or cougar off their kills. One study found that grizzlies and American black bears visited 24% of cougar kills in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks , usurping 10% of carcasses. Bears gained up to 113%, and cougars lost up to 26% of their daily energy requirements from these encounters. In Colorado and California, black bears were found to visit 48% and 77% of kills, respectively. In general, cougars are subordinate to black bears when it comes to killing, and when bears are most active,

7350-426: The larger jaguar in South America has been suggested for the decline in the size of prey items. In Central or North America, the cougar and jaguar share the same prey, depending on its abundance. Other listed prey species of the cougar include mice , porcupines , American beavers , raccoons , hares , guanacoes , peccaries , vicuñas , rheas and wild turkeys . Birds and small reptiles are sometimes preyed upon in

7448-633: The largest component, with 23,236 ± 5,379 accepted genus names, of which 20,845 ± 4,494 are angiosperms (superclass Angiospermae). By comparison, the 2018 annual edition of the Catalogue of Life (estimated >90% complete, for extant species in the main) contains currently 175,363 "accepted" genus names for 1,744,204 living and 59,284 extinct species, also including genus names only (no species) for some groups. The number of species in genera varies considerably among taxonomic groups. For instance, among (non-avian) reptiles , which have about 1180 genera,

7546-425: The latter have been documented attempting to prey on cougar cubs. The cougar and jaguar share overlapping territory in the southern portion of its range. The jaguar tends to take the larger prey where ranges overlap, reducing both the cougar's potential size and the likelihood of direct competition between the two cats. Cougars appear better than jaguars at exploiting a broader prey niche and smaller prey. The cougar

7644-462: The literature used here was the cougar's diet and its prey's regulation. The cougar is a generalist hypercarnivore . It prefers large mammals such as mule deer , white-tailed deer , elk , moose , mountain goat and bighorn sheep . It opportunistically takes smaller prey such as rodents , lagomorphs , smaller carnivores, birds, and even domestic animals, including pets. The mean weight of cougar vertebrate prey increases with its body weight and

7742-439: The mating season, estrus females produce caterwauls or yowls to attract mates, and males respond with similar vocals. Mothers and offspring keep in contact with whistles, chirps, and mews. Females reach sexual maturity at the age of 18 months to three years and are in estrus for about eight days of a 23-day cycle; the gestation period is approximately 91 days. Both adult males and females may mate with multiple partners, and

7840-403: The most (>300) have only 1 species, ~360 have between 2 and 4 species, 260 have 5–10 species, ~200 have 11–50 species, and only 27 genera have more than 50 species. However, some insect genera such as the bee genera Lasioglossum and Andrena have over 1000 species each. The largest flowering plant genus, Astragalus , contains over 3,000 species. Which species are assigned to a genus

7938-486: The muscle fibers of human athletes. The family Felidae is part of the Feliformia , a suborder that diverged probably about 50.6 to 35 million years ago into several families. The Felidae and the Asiatic linsangs are considered a sister group , which split about 35.2 to 31.9 million years ago . The earliest cats probably appeared about 35 to 28.5 million years ago . Proailurus

8036-428: The name could not be used for both. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach published the replacement name Ornithorhynchus in 1800. However, a genus in one kingdom is allowed to bear a scientific name that is in use as a generic name (or the name of a taxon in another rank) in a kingdom that is governed by a different nomenclature code. Names with the same form but applying to different taxa are called "homonyms". Although this

8134-541: The provisions of the ICZN Code, e.g., incorrect original or subsequent spellings, names published only in a thesis, and generic names published after 1930 with no type species indicated. According to "Glossary" section of the zoological Code, suppressed names (per published "Opinions" of the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature) remain available but cannot be used as the valid name for

8232-534: The same as female cougars. Cougar coloring is plain (hence the Latin concolor ["one color"] in the scientific name) but can vary greatly across individuals and even siblings. The coat is typically tawny, but it ranges from silvery-grey to reddish with lighter patches on the underbody, including the jaws, chin, and throat. Infants are spotted and born with blue eyes and rings on their tails; juveniles are pale, and dark spots remain on their flanks. A leucistic individual

8330-429: The south, but this is rarely recorded in North America. Magellanic penguins ( Spheniscus magellanicus ) constitute the majority of prey items in cougar diet in Patagonia 's Bosques Petrificados de Jaramillo National Park and Monte León National Park . Although capable of sprinting, the cougar is typically an ambush predator . It stalks through brush and trees, across ledges, or other covered spots, before delivering

8428-663: The southwestern United States, they have been recorded to also prey on feral horses in the Great Basin , as well as feral donkeys in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts . Investigations at Yellowstone National Park showed that elk and mule deer were the cougar's primary prey; the prey base is shared with the park's wolves , with which the cougar competes for resources. A study on winter kills from November to April in Alberta showed that ungulates accounted for greater than 99% of

8526-597: The species in general. Of this length, the tail typically accounts for 63 to 95 cm (25 to 37 in). Males generally weigh 53 to 72 kg (117 to 159 lb). Females typically weigh between 34 and 48 kg (75 and 106 lb). Cougar size is smallest close to the equator and larger towards the poles . The largest recorded cougar, shot in 1901, weighed 105.2 kg (232 lb); claims of 125.2 kg (276 lb) and 118 kg (260 lb) have been reported, though they were probably exaggerated. Male cougars in North America average 62 kg (137 lb), while

8624-497: The specific name particular to the wolf. A botanical example would be Hibiscus arnottianus , a particular species of the genus Hibiscus native to Hawaii. The specific name is written in lower-case and may be followed by subspecies names in zoology or a variety of infraspecific names in botany . When the generic name is already known from context, it may be shortened to its initial letter, for example, C. lupus in place of Canis lupus . Where species are further subdivided,

8722-412: The standard format for a species name comprises the generic name, indicating the genus to which the species belongs, followed by the specific epithet, which (within that genus) is unique to the species. For example, the gray wolf 's scientific name is Canis lupus , with Canis ( Latin for 'dog') being the generic name shared by the wolf's close relatives and lupus (Latin for 'wolf') being

8820-403: The taxon is termed a synonym ; some authors also include unavailable names in lists of synonyms as well as available names, such as misspellings, names previously published without fulfilling all of the requirements of the relevant nomenclatural code, and rejected or suppressed names. A particular genus name may have zero to many synonyms, the latter case generally if the genus has been known for

8918-576: The values quoted are the mean of "accepted" names alone (all "uncertain" names treated as unaccepted) and "accepted + uncertain" names (all "uncertain" names treated as accepted), with the associated range of uncertainty indicating these two extremes. Within Animalia, the largest phylum is Arthropoda , with 151,697 ± 33,160 accepted genus names, of which 114,387 ± 27,654 are insects (class Insecta). Within Plantae, Tracheophyta (vascular plants) make up

9016-429: The virus species " Salmonid herpesvirus 1 ", " Salmonid herpesvirus 2 " and " Salmonid herpesvirus 3 " are all within the genus Salmonivirus ; however, the genus to which the species with the formal names " Everglades virus " and " Ross River virus " are assigned is Alphavirus . As with scientific names at other ranks, in all groups other than viruses, names of genera may be cited with their authorities, typically in

9114-415: The western United States and Canada, it is also called "mountain lion", a name first used in writing in 1858. Other names include "panther" (although it does not belong to the genus Panthera ) and "catamount" (meaning "cat of the mountains"). Felis concolor was the scientific name proposed by Carl Linnaeus in 1771 for a cat with a long tail from Brazil. The specific epithet of the name, "concolor",

9212-404: The wild is reported at 8 to 13 years and probably averages 8 to 10; a female of at least 18 years was reported killed by hunters on Vancouver Island . Cougars may live as long as 20 years in captivity. Causes of death in the wild include disability and disease, competition with other cougars, starvation, accidents, and, where allowed, hunting. The feline immunodeficiency virus is well-adapted to

9310-586: Was ancestral to two main lines of felids: the cats in the extant subfamilies and a group of extinct "saber-tooth" felids of the subfamily Machairodontinae , which range from the type genus Machairodus of the late Miocene to Smilodon of the Pleistocene. The "false saber-toothed cats", the Barbourofelidae and Nimravidae , are not true cats but are closely related. Together with the Felidae, Viverridae , hyenas and mongooses , they constitute

9408-634: Was later modified to "cougar" in English. The cougar holds the Guinness record for the animal with the greatest number of names, with over 40 in English alone. "Puma" is the common name used in Latin America and most parts of Europe. The term puma is also sometimes used in the United States. The first use of puma in English dates to 1777, introduced from Spanish from the Quechua language . In

9506-611: Was recorded in a palm oil plantation close to a riparian forest in the Llanos Basin , and close to water bodies in the Magdalena River Valley . In the human-modified landscape of central Argentina, it inhabits bushland with abundant vegetation cover and prey species. Cougars are an important keystone species in Western Hemisphere ecosystems, linking numerous species at many trophic levels. In

9604-518: Was seen in Serra dos Órgãos National Park in Rio de Janeiro in 2013 when it was recorded by a camera trap, indicating that pure white individuals do exist within the species, though they are extremely rare. The cougar has large paws and proportionally the largest hind legs in the Felidae, allowing for great leaping and powerful short sprints. It can leap from the ground up to 5.5 m (18 ft) high into

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