Summary ⁵

Puma is a member of Felidae that contains the cougar (also known as the puma, among other names) and the jaguarundi, and may also include several poorly known Old World fossil representatives (for example, Puma pardoides, or "Owen's panther," a large cougar-like cat of Eurasia's Pleistocene).

Distribution ⁶

Historically, mountain lions had the most extensive distribution of all American terrestrial mammals. They ranged from coast to coast in North America, and from southern Argentina and Chile to southeastern Alaska. Extermination efforts, hunting pressure, and habitat destruction have restricted their range to relatively mountainous, unpopulated areas throughout much of their range. Populations in eastern North America were entirely exterminated, except for a small population of Florida panthers (Puma concolor coryi). In recent years populations have begun to expand into areas of human habitation, especially in the western United States. Mountain lions are now fairly common in suburban areas of California and have recently been sighted as far east as urban Kansas City, Missouri, where several have been hit by cars. Mountain lion sightings in eastern North America, outside of southern Florida, are still more likely to be escaped or abandoned "pet" mountain lions or other large cats.

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Valerie, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/18922711@N00/1453118029
2. (c) Wayne Dumbleton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3546/3409889096_96f4090fe9.jpg
3. (c) dstockbr, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
4. (c) Saguaro National Park, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6212/6269646129_4e8c72d45c_o.jpg
5. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puma_(genus)
6. (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31419077

More Info

• iNat taxon page
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• iNaturalist Mammal Working Group
• VertNet

Range Map

(c) Discover Life and original sources, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC-SA)

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