IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Guggisberg, C.A.W. | |
| Puma, Cougar _Puma concolor_ (Linnaeus 1771) | |
| 1975 Book Chapter | |
Characteristics, distribution and habits of the Puma The Early North American settlers were exceedingly lavish in bestowing names upon the big cat that figures as "puma" in most natural history books. They called it cougar, panther, painter, catamount, lion, Mexican lion, silver lion, mountain lion, mountain demon, mountain devil, mountain screamer, brown tiger, red tiger, deer tiger, deer killer, Indian devil, purple feather, king cat, sneak cat - or simply varmint. The word "puma" comes from the Quechua language of Peru, while "cougar," which is also widely used, may be a derivation from the "sussuarana" of the Tupi Indians. The Spaniards of Argentina and Central America referred to the animal as leon or leon Americana, the Portuguese in Brazil as onca vermilla - red jaguar - and leao. It is thus evident that to a majority of Europeans it immediately brought to mind the lion of the Old World. The Puma was named Felis concolor by Linnaeus, but its isolated position, without any near living relatives, was recognized by Sir William Jardine as early as 1834, when he proposed to change the generic designation from Felis to Puma. The skull appears remarkably short and rounded. The first upper premolar is present. |
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