Vertebrate Zoology

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puma

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

puma or cougar , New World member of the cat family, Felis concolor. Also known as mountain lion, catamount, panther, and painter, it ranges from S British Columbia to the southern tip of South America. The puma is slenderly built, with a lionlike face. There is great variation both in size and in color, and pumas at the extremes of their geographic range are much larger than those of the tropics. Adult males of the cooler regions average about 7 ft (2.1 m) in length, including the 30-in. (76-cm) tail, and about 28 in. (71 cm) in shoulder height; they weigh up to 175 lb (80 kg). Females are smaller. The fur is yellow-brown, red-brown, or gray; the puma is distinguished from the other large New World cat, the jaguar, by its lack of spots.

Pumas are found in almost every type of country, including mountain tops, grasslands, deserts, and temperate and tropical forests. They are solitary hunters, preying on animals up to the size of deer. Some individuals prey on livestock, and farmers have waged extensive war on the species, which is nonetheless still numerous in Central and South America. In North America it had largely disappeared from the eastern two thirds of the continent by 1950, except for some survivors in Florida. Since then, however, there has been some expansion of its range; there have been occasional confirmed pumas in New England since the mid-1990s, for example. Some of the individuals spotted in the East, however, have been pets that were released. Pumas avoid contact with humans and rarely attack them.

Pumas are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Carnivora, family Felidae.

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puma

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

puma (mountain lion, cougar) Large cat found in mountains, forests, swamps and jungles of the Americas. It has a small, round head, erect ears and a heavy tail. The coat is tawny with dark brown on the ears, nose and tail; the underparts are white. It preys mainly on deer and small animals. Length: to 2.3m (7.5ft), including the tail; height: to 75cm (30in) at the shoulder. Family Felidae; species Felis concolor.

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puma

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

pu·ma / ˈp(y)oōmə/ • n. another term for cougar.

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puma

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

puma XVIII. — Sp. — Quechua.

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T. F. HOAD. "puma." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "puma." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-puma.html

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puma

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

puma •dormer, former, korma, Norma, performer, pro-forma, stormer, transformer, trauma, warmer •sixth-former • barnstormer •aroma, carcinoma, chroma, coma, comber, diploma, glaucoma, Homer, lymphoma, melanoma, misnomer, Oklahoma, Omagh, roamer, Roma, romer, sarcoma, soma •beachcomber •bloomer, boomer, consumer, Duma, humour (US humor), Nkrumah, perfumer, puma, roomer, rumour (US rumor), satsuma, stumer, Sumer, tumour (US tumor) •zeugma • fulmar •bummer, comer, drummer, hummer, midsummer, mummer, plumber, rummer, strummer, summa, summer •latecomer • newcomer • agama •welcomer •astronomer, monomer •ashrama • isomer • gossamer •customer •affirmer, Burma, derma, Irma, murmur, squirmer, terra firma, wormer

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