Cougars

Cougars
Jaguarundi ( Puma yaguarondi )
Systematics
Superordinate : Laurasiatheria Order : Predators (Carnivora) Subordination : Feline (Feliformia) Family : Cats (Felidae) Subfamily : Small cats (Felinae) Genre : Cougars
Scientific name
puma
Jardine , 1834

The pumas ( Puma ) are a genus of predators from the family of cats (Felidae). In it two living species are summarized:

• the puma ( Puma concolor ) and
• the jaguarundi or weasel cat ( Puma yaguarondi ).

The genus belongs to the subfamily of small cats , although the puma surpasses the dimensions of some large cats . DNA studies have also shown that the closest living relative of this genus is the cheetah . Due to its peculiar body structure, this was led in a separate subfamily within the cats, Acinonychinae, a division that can no longer be maintained after the discovery of this commonality.

An extinct species of the genus is known to be Puma pardoides from the early Pleistocene of Eurasia and in the latest revision of the cat classification published in 2017, the two species of American cheetahs (previously Miracinonyx ) were also placed in the genus Puma .

The jaguarundi used to be classified in its own genus, Herpailurus . However, based on molecular genetic investigations, a close relationship between these two species has been established, so that more recent classifications combine them in a common genus.

The fur of these animals is short and dense and mostly yellow-gray or reddish in color. In contrast to many other cat species, adult animals are not spotted. Both species are native to America .

Systematics

Big cats	Neofelis  Clouded leopard ( N. nebulosa )     Sunda Clouded Leopard  ( N. diardi )  Panthera  Tiger ( P. tigris )     Snow leopard ( P. uncia )     Jaguar ( P. onca )     Leopard ( P. pardus )     Lion ( P. leo )

Small cats	Manul  ( Otocolobus manul )     Old cats ( Prionailurus )     Real cats ( Felis )     Cheetah ( Acinonyx jubatus )     Pumas ( Puma )     Lynx ( Lynx )     Leopard cats ( leopardus )     Caracal     Serval ( Leptailurus serval )     Asiatic golden cats ( Catopuma )     Marble cat ( Pardofelis marmorata )

Relationships of small cats according to O'Brien & Johnson 2008.

literature

• DE Wilson and DM Reeder: Mammal Species of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8018-8221-4

Web links

Commons : Puma  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ M. Culver, Johnson, WE, Pecon-Slattery, J., O'Brein, SJ: Genomic Ancestry of the American Puma . In: Oxford University Press (Ed.): Journal of Heredity . 91, No. 3, 2000, pp. 186-97.
2. ^ Warren E. Johnson, Eduardo Eizirik, Jill Pecon-Slattery, William J. Murphy, Agostinho Antunes, Emma Teeling, Stephen J. O'Brien: The Late Miocene Radiation of Modern Felidae: A Genetic Assessment. Science Vol. 311 (2006), pp. 73-77.
3. ↑ Kitchener AC, Breitenmoser-Würsten Ch., Eizirik E., Gentry A., Werdelin L., Wilting A., Yamaguchi N., Abramov AV, Christiansen P., Driscoll C., Duckworth JW, 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 / SSC Cat Specialist Group. Cat News Special Issue 11, 80 pp. Page 7.
4. ↑ Stephen J. O'Brien, Warren E. Johnson: The New Pedigree of Cats. In: Spectrum of Science. 6/2008, pp. 54-61.