Tag wildcat

CREATURE FEATURE: South American Cougar

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The South American Cougar (Puma concolor puma) is a large wild cat in the Felidae family. It is a felid. It is a sub-species of the Cougar (Puma concolor). It is also known as the Puma.

The South American Cougar is one colour (concolor means one colour), which is usually tawny brown or reddish-brown. It has lighter patches on its underbelly, chin, and throat.has a rounded head, and a long, slender body with powerful forequarters, larger front feet, and large paws. It has four retractile claws on each hind (back) paw and five retractile claws on its forepaws (front paws), but one is a dewclaw (digit). Retractile claws can extend and retract, protecting them with a sheath of skin when they are not being used. 

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Jaguar

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The Jaguar (Panthera onca) is a large, near-threatened wild cat in the Felidae family. It is a felid. It is also known as the Panther.

The Jaguar looks like the Leopard, but it is larger and more muscular. It has tawny-brown fur covered with rosette-shaped markings with one or several dots. It has spots on its head and neck. Its tail also has spots, and ends with bands. Forest Jaguars are usually darker than those in open areas. It has short, powerful legs. It has a large head with strong jaws.  

The Black Jaguar, or Black Panther, is actually a melanistic Jaguar, mainly found in South America. Melanism is the darkening of the body.

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Pallas’s Cat Eyes

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The Pallas’s Cat (Otocolobus manul) is a wild cat, native to Central Asia, in countries such as Afghanistan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, India, Kazakhstan, and Pakistan. 

The pupils in its eyes are round, not vertically-lined pupils like the eyes of domestic cats.

Domestic cats are nocturnal (active at night) and have vertical pupils, called slits.

The Pallas’s Cat is diurnal (active during the day) and have round, circular pupils.

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Eurasian Lynx

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The Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) is a medium-sized wild cat: a feline mammal. It is a felid. 

The Eurasian Lynx has short reddish or brown fur in summer and thick, silky silver-grey to greyish-brown fur in winter, with a long grey and white ruff. Its underbelly, neck and chin are white. Its fur has black spots, although some Lynxes have dark-brown stripes on their forehead and back. It has black tufts of hair on its ears. It has powerful long legs with large webbed, furred paws to enable it to swim and to walk on snowy ground. It has a bobbed tail with a black tip. 

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