Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
20
The Magnificent One: The Cougar
MYTHS
The cougar is an endangered species.
Cougars are no threat to people.
THE COUGAR
(PUMA CONCOLOR)
MIGHT WELL BE DUBBED THE CAT OF MANY NAMES.
Mountain lion, puma, catamount, panther, and painter are among the most common, but numerous
other English, Spanish, and Native American titles have been applied to this big cat. The sources of
these names are as varied and curious as the names themselves.
Mountain lion
is self-explanatory, but
puma
comes through Spanish from a Peruvian word.
Panther
entered the English language from the
Old French
pantere,
which in turn goes back through Latin
panthera
to the Greek
panther. Painter
is
simply a colloquial pronunciation of panther, and
catamount
is a form of
cat o'mountain.
And
cougar,
my personal preference, is French, taken from the language of the Tupi Indians of South America.
“What's in a name?” Shakespeare wrote. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell
as sweet,” and this gorgeous great predator is just as splendid whether we call it cougar, puma, moun-
tain lion, panther, or some other name. This is by far the largest cat commonly found in North America
above the U.S.-Mexican border; although the jaguar is slightly heavier, it rarely reaches the U.S. side.
The cougar's scientific name,
Puma concolor,
means a puma of the same— or one—color (until re-
cently, the name was
Felis concolor—
cat of one color). At any rate, the species name is an apt descrip-
tion of this big feline's basic appearance. Most of the cougar's coat is tawny, reminiscent of the African
lion's color, but the underparts are much lighter, and the tip of the tail and backs of the ears are dark
brown to nearly black.
