South American cougar
This article is missing information about characteristics, interactions with humans and conservation.(January 2023) |
South American cougar | |
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Cougar at Rio Doce State Park, Brazil | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | Felidae |
Subfamily: | Felinae |
Genus: | Puma |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | P. c. concolor
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Trinomial name | |
Puma concolor concolor (Linnaeus, 1771)
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Synonyms[3] | |
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The South American cougar (Puma concolor concolor), also known as the Andean mountain lion[4] or puma,[5] is a cougar subspecies occurring in northern and western South America, from Colombia and Venezuela to Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile.[6]
Taxonomy
Felis concolor was proposed by
- Puma concolor puma proposed by Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782 was a specimen from Chile.[8]
- Puma concolor cabrerae proposed by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1940 was a specimen collected in La Rioja Province, Argentina.[9]
- Puma concolor capricornensis proposed by Edward Alphonso Goldman in 1946 was a specimen from Brazil.[10]
As of 2017, these specimens are considered synonyms of P. c. concolor, the cougar subspecies occurring in South America.[6]
Behavior and ecology
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2024) |
The South American puma is a largely solitary and secretive cat. A single puma’s home range may span hundreds of square kilometres which the cat patrols, traversing significant distances daily. A large range potentially means more cached or hoarded kills (stored prey carcasses) for later consumption, as well as different nests, dens or bedding sites; vast territories enable the cats to scent-mark their territory and decipher the pheromones of other pumas, and animals, that have passed through.
Other than mothers with their young (or adolescent siblings newly on their own) and male-female encounters during the mating season, the South American puma is seldom seen in pairs or groups. Mothers care for and wean their cubs for up to a year before she abandons them or chases them off, in time for the next potential
Diet
Depending on its location, the cougar hunts a variety of species; in the northern, more tropical regions, prey consists of many species of
Cultural significance
Like the jaguar,
References
- ^ "Puma concolor". iucnredlist.org.
- ^ "Puma concolor". iucnredlist.org.
- OCLC 62265494.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-2927-3571-2.
- ^ Lee, Jane J. (2014-12-06), Andean Pumas Bring National Park in Argentina Back to Life, The National Geographic, archived from the original on November 26, 2020, retrieved 2020-03-31
- ^ a b c Kitchener, A. C.; Breitenmoser-Würsten, C.; Eizirik, E.; Gentry, A.; Werdelin, L.; Wilting, A.; Yamaguchi, N.; Abramov, A. V.; Christiansen, P.; Driscoll, C.; Duckworth, J. W.; Johnson, W.; Luo, S.-J.; Meijaard, E.; O’Donoghue, P.; Sanderson, J.; Seymour, K.; Bruford, M.; Groves, C.; Hoffmann, M.; Nowell, K.; Timmons, Z.; Tobe, S. (2017). "A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group" (PDF). Cat News (Special Issue 11): 33–34.
- ^ Linnaeus, C. (1771). "Felis concolor". Mantissa plantarum altera. Generum editionis VI et specierum editionis II. Regni animalis appendix. Holmiae: Laurentii Salvii. p. 522.
- ^ Molina G. I. (1782). Saggio sulla storia naturale del Chilli. Bologna: Stamperia di S. Tommaso d’Aquino.
- .
- ^ Goldman, E. A. (1946). "Classification of the races of the puma". In Young, S. P.; Goldman, E. A. (eds.). The Puma. Mysterious American cat. Washington D.C.: The American Wildlife Institute. pp. 175–302.
- ISBN 978-2-8317-0462-3.
- ISBN 2-8317-0045-0.
- ^ "The Study Subjects: Vicunas and Pumas Wildlife Ecology in San Guillermo National Park". University of Wyoming. Retrieved 2015-01-12.
- PMID 23301093.
- ^ Tarmo, K. "On the role of Creation and Origin Myths in the Development of Inca State and Religion". Electronic Journal of Folklore. Kait Realo (translator). Estonian Folklore Institute. Archived from the original on June 30, 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2007.
- Thames and Hudson.