Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The cougar (Puma concolor) (/ ˈkuːɡər /, 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.
The North American cougar (Puma concolor couguar) is a cougar subspecies in North America. It is the biggest cat in North America (North American jaguars are fairly small). [4][5] It was once common in eastern North America and is still prevalent in the western half of the continent. This subspecies includes populations in western Canada, the ...
Puma (/ ˈ p j uː m ə / or / ˈ p uː m ə /) is a genus in the family Felidae whose only extant species is the cougar (also known as the puma, mountain lion, and panther, [2] among other names), and may also include several poorly known Old World fossil representatives (for example, Puma pardoides, or Owen's panther, a large, cougar-like cat of Eurasia's Pliocene).
The eastern cougar or eastern puma (Puma concolor couguar) is a subspecies designation proposed in 1946 for cougar populations in eastern North America. [2][3] The subspecies as described in 1946 was declared extinct by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2011. [4] However, the 1946 taxonomy is now in question. [5]
The Florida panther had for a long time been considered a unique cougar subspecies, with the scientific name Felis concolor coryi proposed by Outram Bangs in 1899. [10] A genetic study of cougar mitochondrial DNA showed that many of the purported cougar subspecies described in the 19th century are too similar to be recognized as distinct. [11]
Like the jaguar, [4] the cougar holds historical cultural significance amongst many South American indigenous people. [15] People in the Andes regard the puma as being either a snatcher of souls, or as a helper of people. [4] The cougar's name was used for Incan regions and people. The Chankas, who were enemies of the Incas, had the cougar as ...
The species name was derived from Ancient Greek Γόριλλαι (gorillai) 'tribe of hairy women', [8] as described by Hanno. Evolution and classification The closest relatives of gorillas are the other two Homininae genera, chimpanzees and humans, all of them having diverged from a common ancestor about 7 million years ago. [ 9 ]
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus Panthera that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) and a weight of up to 158 kg (348 lb), it is the biggest cat species in the Americas and the third largest in the world.