This article is missing information about characteristics, interactions with humans and conservation. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.(January 2023)
Felis concolor was proposed by Carl Linnaeus in 1771 for the cougar type specimen, which originated in French Guiana.[7]
Since then, several cougar specimens from South America were described:[6]
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 reproductive cycle. Large, dominant male pumas may threaten or kill young cubs if they are deemed potential competition for resources or future bloodlines.
Like the jaguar,[4] the cougar holds historical cultural significance amongst many South American indigenous people.[15] People in the Andes regard the puma as being either a snatcher of souls, or as a helper of people.[4] The cougar's name was used for Incan regions and people. The Chankas, who were enemies of the Incas, had the cougar as their deity.[16]
^ abcKitchener, 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.
^Pocock R. I. (1940). "Description of a new race of puma (Puma concolor), with a note on an abnormal tooth growth in the genus". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 11. 6: 307–313. doi:10.1080/03745481.1940.9723683.
^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.
