jaguar
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Wild jaguar in the Pantanal |
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| Panthera onca | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
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The jaguar ( Panthera onca ) is the only species of big cats (Pantherinae) found on the American double continent , the smaller puma is assigned to the small cats. An older name for the jaguar is ounce , onze or onza . This predator sees the leopard similar to that in Africa and Asia lives, and was once up in the southern US - states California , New Mexico , Arizona and Texas widespread. Today the jaguar occurs almost exclusively in Central and South America . The IUCN ( International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ) currently lists the big cat as " Near Threatened " in the Red List .
etymology
The word jaguar as a name for the big cat comes from the Tupi language , an indigenous language of South America belonging to the Tupí-Guaraní languages . The old Indian term yaguar roughly means "the predator who kills his prey with a single jump". In Guaraní it is called jaguareté ("real jaguar"), while the word jagua (rá) , originally "carnivorous quadruped", is now used specifically for the imported dog .
The jaguar has various Spanish and Portuguese names in the areas that are still at home today: Jaguar , Yaguar , Yaguarete , Otorongo , Jaguarete , Tiger ( el tigre ) or "American tiger". The Portuguese name of the jaguar is onça-pintada or onça-verdadeira . Black animals are known as kuchí kudáu , ming chá, or yagueretehú .
features
After the tiger and the lion , the jaguar is the third largest cat in the world.
Height and weight
The head-trunk length of the jaguar is 112 cm to 185 cm, plus a 45-75 cm long tail. The shoulder height is around 70 cm on average. Although overall stronger and more massive than the leopard , its tail is significantly shorter than that of its African-Asian relative. Body weight varies greatly between different regions and ranges between 36 and 158 kg. Females are around 10–20% smaller and correspondingly lighter than males. In addition, there is a pronounced geographic variation. Jaguars in North and Central America are significantly smaller than jaguars in South America . Males in Belize weigh around 60 kg on average, while male jaguars in Venezuela and Brazil weigh around 90-100 kg. Female jaguars in Brazil weigh an average of almost 80 kg.
Physique and characteristics
Compared to a leopard, the jaguar has a more massive physique, is much heavier and looks very "compact" and powerful in its appearance. Particularly characteristic are the muscular legs, which are slightly shorter than that of the leopard, the wider and rounder head of the big cat and the extremely strong jawbones and the extremely strong jaw muscles. The skull is very robust. Despite its smaller body size compared to the Siberian tiger , the jaguar has the most powerful teeth of all cats , with which it not only effortlessly cracks turtle shells, but also kills its prey by biting its long canine teeth ( canini ) through the skull. This mode of killing has not been proven for other big cats that suffocate their prey or break their necks. The bite force of a jaguar is twice that of a lion, and the jaguar has the second strongest set of teeth of all land-based predators after the spotted hyena . The particularly strong skull of the animal probably represents an adaptation to the range of prey.
Fur coloring and color variations
The coat of the jaguar is relatively short and only slightly longer on the neck, chest, belly and the inside of the paws. The basic coat color is a strong golden yellow, which sometimes turns reddish. Jaguars that live in the rainforest are generally darker in color than individuals in savannah areas. However, the fur is white on the belly, the inside of the legs, on the chest and on the mouth. The underside of the tail is also white, the tip of the tail generally black. The body is covered with black or dark brown ring spots that sometimes enclose one or more small spots. These rosette-shaped spots are much larger than those of the leopard . On the head, neck and limbs, the fur pattern consists of complete patches that are elongated in the chest area and often merge into one line. The ears of the jaguar are small and round and black on the back, with a light, sometimes white spot, as can be found in the tiger.
As with the leopard, melanism is a common occurrence. In the case of these black bodies, the pattern of spots can always be seen when the light is incident at an angle. As with the leopard, the black cats are sometimes referred to as "panthers" or " black panthers " or, due to their continental occurrence, as "American panthers". In addition to completely black animals, there are also animals that are only partially black and also have light areas. Albinism has been described, but no specimens with white fur have been spotted. The only known big cat with a white basic coat color and markings is the Bengal tiger (king tiger ), although this is "partial albinism" ( leucism ).
If the parent animals are black and normal colored, the litter can have a normal colored as well as a black young animal or only normal colored young.
Distribution area and habitat
The main distribution of the jaguar today is in the tropical, Amazonian rainforest . It prefers dense vegetation and the proximity of rivers and lakes as a habitat . There are also jaguars all over South and Central America , from Mexico to Argentina . They were still widespread in historical times in the southwest of the USA, to the north the jaguar reached at least the Grand Canyon in historical times . With increasing human colonization, the jaguar was decimated more and more in the USA, in 1963 the last female specimen was shot on US soil, and two years later the last male animal. In 1969 the state of Arizona banned the hunting of jaguars. Specimens reappeared in Arizona in 1971 and 1986, but were killed by hunters or hunting dogs. Since the detection of a jaguar in the southwest of the USA in 1996 and further sightings in New Mexico and Arizona, we can again speak of a jaguar population in the USA, which certainly consists of very few specimens.
Since jaguars, like tigers, are very adaptable, they occur in a wide variety of habitats that offer sufficient cover, prey and water access. The habitats include tropical rainforests , dry forests, savannahs, pampas areas, bushland, swamps and semi-deserts. However, jaguars prefer humid habitats near the banks and are often found on rivers. There they not only find prey, but also spend their rest time on the banks of the river. However, there have been reports of sightings, according to which isolated jaguars have been found in higher mountains, for example on Costa Rica, at an altitude of up to 3800 m. In the Andes, however , jaguars no longer occur from an altitude of 2700 m. It is generally assumed that jaguars have a hard time adapting to colder climatic regions.
Way of life
The knowledge of the behavior and way of life of the jaguar is incomplete. They are based primarily on specimens with collarbones or direct observations. The overall difficulty is that jaguars are difficult to catch in order to put transmitter collars on them, and the big cat lives very secluded.
They are solitary animals who, depending on possible prey, claim fixed territories of at least 25 to 150 square kilometers. But there are also reports of areas from 15 to 800 square kilometers. The territories of the males overlap with those of the females. However, this can also be the case with male animals, but they usually avoid each other in good time before serious territorial disputes arise. As with other big cats, the territories are marked by urine or scratches on trees. Like all big cats (with the exception of the lion), solitary animals only come together to mate.
Despite their heavy build, they can climb very well. Young animals have been shown to climb more frequently than adults. Because of their range of prey, they are very good swimmers. The jaguar also swims through rivers over long distances, a characteristic that is otherwise only found in tigers . Investigations with the help of radiometry found that jaguars are also quite diurnal. You still spend 40 to 50 percent of the day resting.
nutrition
The prey animals of the jaguar are very diverse. Up to 85 species of prey are assigned to it. The most important are larger mammals such as deer , peccaries (umbilical pigs), tapirs , capybaras , pakas , armadillos and agoutis . Tree animals such as monkeys or sloths and birds are less likely to fall victim to the cat. In the vicinity of the water jaguars prey on water birds, fish and smaller caimans . Preferred main prey animals, however, are the peccary and usually between 50 and 61 kilograms heavy capybara, the largest living rodent . Due to the decline and fragmentation of their natural habitat as a result of the spread of humans and their farms and livestock farming, jaguars also tear cattle like cattle or pigs more often . Ultimately, however, the jaguar is also very adaptable in its eating habits and eats almost anything it can overwhelm.
In contrast to a number of canids such as wolves or wild dogs, who hunt their prey by chasing, jaguars are typical hunters (high seat hunters). They are also not fast sprinters like the cheetah , but like the rest of the big or small cats, they stalk silently and as close as possible to their prey or lie in wait for it. After a short spurt, the prey is torn to the ground and killed with a bite in the neck, throat or skull. The prey animal's skull is usually bitten near the ears. Often the remains of prey also contain dislocated or crushed cervical vertebrae. In addition, jaguars are able to open well-armored reptiles such as turtles due to their strong skull structure and strong jaw muscles . Numerous remains of turtle shells found suggest that the jaguar has a predilection for these reptiles. This is already known from fossil carapace finds from the distribution area of the jaguar from the Pleistocene , which on the one hand have bite marks from big cats and which were found together with fossil jaguar bones. Its predilection for turtles, but also caimans, fish and capybaras is probably the reason why the jaguar prefers the proximity of water.
Within its habitat on the South American continent, the jaguar takes on the role of a top predator , i.e. a predator that is only at the top of the food pyramid in its ecosystem .
Reproduction and development
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The mating season of the jaguar lasts all year round. In the northern distribution areas it is restricted to the period from late November to late January. The gestation period is about 100 days and corresponds on average to that of other big cats. A litter has one to four young animals, but usually two. The young are usually born in April or June. Your birth weight is between 700 and 900 grams. The female jaguar chooses a sheltered place as her birthplace, such as a cave or a hollow, old tree trunk. The young are born helpless and blind and with soft, already clearly spotted fur, their faces with black stripes. They open their eyes after about 13 days. The rearing of the young is mainly done by the mother and occasionally by the father. The lower incisors erupt between the 9th and 19th day, the upper ones after 11 to 23 days. The lower canines ( canini ) follow after 30 days and the upper after 36 to 37 days. The permanent set of teeth develops analogously to that of other cats. Young jaguars start eating meat as early as the 10th to 11th week of life, but they are still suckled for up to five or six months. After six weeks, the offspring are about the size of an adult house cat and begin to follow their parents on forays. At around seven months of age, they have the full color of the fur of an adult animal. The young animals leave their families at around one to two years of age. As with the tiger, it happens that two young animals leave their parents together to look for their own territory. Female jaguars become sexually mature at two to three years of age, males at three to four years a little later. Life expectancy averages 10 to 12 years in the wild and 20 to 22 years in captivity.
Natural enemies
As a top predator , the jaguar has no natural enemies in its range except humans. If jaguars and pumas occur in the same region, pumas hunt smaller animals and avoid the vicinity of the water and thus the jaguar. Both cats avoid each other and do not become dangerous to each other. This corresponds roughly to the behavior of leopards and tigers in Asia, where, however, attacks occur occasionally. This does not apply if the territory overlaps with the smaller ocelot , as both animals share the same habitat. Deaths were described in which adult jaguars lost the fight against a conspecific or died by poisonous snakes . The latter is not very common. Young jaguars, on the other hand, can be victims of other jaguars, anacondas , crocodiles , pumas or even a peccary herd due to their inexperience in fighting and prey hunting .
Evolution and systematics
Jaguar, lion , tiger and leopard form a common clade within the genus Panthera from which the jaguar emerged as the first split. Fossil finds show that jaguars were widespread across Europe and Asia in the early Pleistocene . These " European jaguars " are often viewed as subspecies of today's jaguars, but are sometimes also viewed as separate species. A distinction is made between an earlier form Panthera (onca) toscana and the later form Panthera (onca) gombaszoegensis . The latter is still proven at the end of the lower Pleistocene around 0.8 million years ago in the Caucasus region . Early Jaguars walked before about 1.9 to 1.7 million years eastward and came across the land bridge Beringia to North America . Here they probably developed via the Pleistocene American jaguar ( Panthera onca augusta ) to the form that is alive today. Pleistocene jaguars were mostly larger than today's shapes; the European jaguar ( P. o. gombaszoegensis ) probably weighed between 90 kg and 210 kg.
The African continent never seems to have been inhabited by jaguars. However, large panther cats appeared there 3.5 million years ago , some of which are reminiscent of lions, but also some of jaguars. In the Pleistocene , jaguars were common in North America north to what is now the state of Washington.
Some subspecies of the jaguar have been described based on their range, but these could not be confirmed by genetic analysis. In various jaguars that came from the area between Mexico and southern Brazil, no clear genetic differences between the various populations could be found.
Persistence and protection
Like all outstanding amounts to wildlife, are also for Jaguar only approximate, which are 15,000 to 25,000 copies, with the largest population density in the Amazon basin and especially to the south of that location by UNESCO for World Heritage declared Pantanal limited. The Pantanal is 230,000 square kilometers of the largest inland - wetland and lies mainly in Brazil, small play in neighboring countries Paraguay and Bolivia . The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in Belize was established in 1984 as the first jaguar sanctuary in Central America. An estimated 200 jaguars live in this 150 km² rainforest area.
Due to the increasing destruction of the rainforests and the associated expansion of humans, the jaguar is hunted as a cattle predator. Forestry, agriculture and mining have reduced its natural habitat by almost 50% over the past few decades. He has already completely disappeared from many areas. The jaguar was particularly heavily hunted in the 1960s, with estimates suggesting that up to 15,000 animals were killed in the Amazon region alone.
The big cat has been on the list of threatened species of the Washington Convention on Endangered Species ( CITES - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ) since the 1970s . It is listed here in Appendix I, which lists the directly threatened species and prohibits trade in these and parts of the animals. In Europe, the Jaguar is placed under maximum protection by an EC regulation (1158/2012, Appendix A) from 1976 and has been specially protected under the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG) since 1980. The trade in jaguar skins has been banned by CITES since 1973. Nevertheless, the big cats are still being poached because their pelts fetch very high prices on the black market . The jaguar is not yet threatened with extinction, but is still exposed to an ever-increasing threat, so that a decline in the numbers can be observed.
Jaguars are kept in human hands in some zoos around the world. In 2020, 102 European zoos had jaguars (including Russia and French overseas territories) - including seven zoological gardens in Germany - as well as in the distribution area ( e.g. Tarija and Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia). There is no information about private households. Targeted breeding under the European Endangered Species Program is coordinated by Chester Zoo in Great Britain.
Jaguars in culture
Jaguar and human
Jaguar attacks on humans have been reported. In such cases, however, the animals were strongly irritated or cornered in defense. Most of the reports indicate that these attacks were only defensive attacks by the animal against humans. Most of the attacks were fatal. There are no reports about the jaguar about man-eating tigers in Asia, lions or leopards in Africa.
In ancient cultures
For many Indian peoples the jaguar had or still has an important role in mythology or even as a deity . The Maya worshiped a god in the form of a jaguar who was seen as ruler of the underworld. The Mayan kings adorned themselves with jaguar skins and noble families made the jaguar part of their name. Among the Aztecs , too , one of the top warriors' castes, the so-called jaguar warriors, was wrapped in jaguar skins. The veneration of the big cat by pre-Columbian cultures in Peru, Mexico and Central America is documented in the form of stone figures, drawings or sculptures. The Chavín culture created statues that were half jaguar, half human, while the jaguar was worshiped as a deity in southern Mexico at the same time. There are no indications from archeology as to how this simultaneous worship or deification came about. Another motif of ancient art is the figure of the jaguar man from the Olmec culture , which is believed to represent a deity.
In today's culture
- The jaguar is the heraldic animal of Guyana .
- The flag of the Colombian department of the Amazon shows a hunter with a jaguar.
- The jaguar appears on the Brazilian 50 reais banknote .
- In addition to the name, the Jaguar car brand used a stylized Jaguar as a hood ornament.
- In the American NFL , a team called Jacksonville Jaguars plays .
- Club Jaguares de Chiapas plays in the Mexican soccer league Mexican .
- The Argentine Super Rugby participant is called Jaguares .
- The Mexican rock band Jaguares named themselves after the animal.
- In 1968 Mexico chose the jaguar as a mascot for the Summer Olympics.
- The main character in Mel Gibson's film Apocalypto is called "The Jaguar's Paw".
- A jaguar named Pandi is the mascot of the 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires .
literature
- Richard Mahler: Jaguar's Shadow. Searching for a Mythic Cat . Yale University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-300-15593-8
- Elizabeth P. Benson: The Cult of the Feline. A Conference in Pre-Columbian Iconography. 1970 (PDF download; 6.6 MB)
- Louise H. Emmons: Comparative feeding ecology of felids in a neotropical rainforest. In: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Vol. 20, No. 4, 1987, doi: 10.1007 / BF00292180 , pp. 271-283.
- Kit Coppard: Big Cats. Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1999, ISBN 3-8289-1543-4 , pp. 84-93.
- Hans W. Kothe: Big cats. Species - habitats - behavior. Komet 2011, ISBN 978-3-86941-079-1 , pp. 196-207.
- Kristin Nowell, Peter Jackson: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Wild cats. IUCN - The World Conservation Union, 1996. ISBN 2-8317-0045-0 , pp. 118-122. (PDF download; 23.4 MB)
- Ronald M. Nowak: Monotremata, Marsupialia, Insectivora, Dermoptera, Chiroptera, Primates, Edentata, Pholidota, Lagomorpha, Rodentia (Sciuromorpha). 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999, ISBN 0-8018-2525-3 (Walker's Mammals of the World, Volume 1), p. 831.
- The world of wild animals: big cats. Christian Verlag, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-88472-006-6 , pp. 78-81.
- John Seidensticker, Susan Lumpkin: Big Cats. Jahr-Verlag, Hamburg, ISBN 0-86438-233-2 , pp. 116–123 and 196–197.
Web links
- Jaguar fur
- Species profile jaguar; IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group in English
- Animal Diversity Web: Panthera onca , accessed May 18, 2013.
- Jaguar - elegant big cat of the jungle Site about the jaguar
- Big Cats Ark Online
- Jaguars photo collection
- www.amazonas.de: King of the jungle
- Panthera onca in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006 Posted by: K. Nowell, U. Breitenmoser, C. Breitenmoser, P. Jackson, 2002. Retrieved on August 11 of 2006.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c The world of wild animals: big cats. P. 78
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Seymour, KL: Panthera onca . (PDF) In: Mammalian Species . 340, No. 340, 1989, pp. 1-9. JSTOR 3504096 3504096 . doi : 10.2307 / 3504096 . Retrieved December 27, 2009.
- ↑ Hans W. Kothe: Big cats. Species - habitats - behavior. P. 201
- ↑ John Seidensticker, Susan Lumpkin: Big Cats. P. 120
- ↑ WWF: Species Protection Lexicon: Jaguar - Characteristics (PDF; 123 kB)
- ↑ Hans W. Kothe: Big cats. Species - habitats - behavior. P. 197
- ^ ME Sunquist, FC Sunquist (2009). Family Felidae (Cats). In: Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 1: Carnivores. Lynx Edicions, 2009, ISBN 978-84-96553-49-1 (p. 138).
- ↑ Determination That Designation of Critical Habitat Is Not Prudent for the Jaguar . In: Federal Register Environmental Documents . July 12, 2006. Retrieved August 30, 2006.
- ↑ Will Rizzo: Return of the Jaguar? . In: Smithsonian Magazine . December 2005. Accessed December 31, 2012.
- ↑ US jaguar filmed on camera. BBC News, February 5, 2016, accessed February 5, 2016 .
- ↑ John Seidensticker, Susan Lumpkin: Big Cats. P. 116
- ↑ Hans W. Kothe: Big cats. Species - habitats - behavior. P. 199
- ↑ WWF species portrait: Jaguar: Habitat (PDF; 123 kB)
- ↑ John Seidensticker, Susan Lumpkin: Big Cats. P. 116
- ↑ John Seidensticker, Susan Lumpkin: Big Cats. P. 117
- ↑ Hans W. Kothe: Big cats. Species - habitats - behavior. P. 203
- ↑ John Seidensticker, Susan Lumpkin: Big Cats. P. 118
- ↑ a b The animals of our world, Volume 1: Predators. P. 38
- ↑ Jaguar Research Center: Jaguar Animals (PDF; 117 kB)
- ↑ H. Hemmer, R.-D. Kahlke and AK Vekua (2001). The Jaguar - Panthera onca gombaszoegensis (Kretzoi, 1938) (Carnivora: Felidae) in the late lower pleistocene of Akhalkalaki (south Georgia; Transcaucasia) and its evolutionary and ecological significance . Geobios, Volume 34, Issue 4, 2001, Pages 475-486.
- ↑ Eduardo Eizirik, Jae-Heup Kim et al .: Phylogeography, population history and conservation genetics of jaguars ( Panthera onca , Mammalia, Felidae) . Molecular Ecology, Volume 10, Issue 1 pp. 65-79. PMID 11251788 . doi : 10.1046 / j.1365-294x.2001.01144.x .
- ↑ a b c Hans W. Kothe: Big cats. Species - habitats - behavior. P. 206
- ↑ a b Kit Coppard: Big Cats. P. 92
- ^ Predatorconservation.com: Jaguar
- ↑ amazonas.de: Jaguar - King of the Jungle
- ↑ WISIA - Scientific Information System for International Species Protection: Protection of the Jaguar
- ↑ www.Zootierliste.de. Retrieved June 13, 2020 .
- ↑ Zoo animal list : predators - big cats - jaguars
- ↑ Jaguar - zootier-lexikon.org. Retrieved June 13, 2020 .