Editing Cougar (section)

===Subspecies===
[[File:Torres del Paine puma JF2.jpg|thumb|[[South American cougar]] at [[Torres del Paine National Park]], in the Chilean part of [[Patagonia]]]]
Following Linnaeus's first scientific description of the cougar, 32 cougar [[zoological specimen]]s were described and proposed as [[subspecies]] until the late 1980s. [[Genetics|Genetic]] analysis of cougar [[mitochondrial DNA]] indicates that many of these are too similar to be recognized as distinct at a molecular level but that only six [[phylogeographic]] groups exist. The [[Florida panther]] samples showed a low [[Microsatellite (genetics)|microsatellite]] variation, possibly due to [[inbreeding]].<ref name=Culver/> Following this research, the authors of ''[[Mammal Species of the World]]'' recognized the following six subspecies in 2005:<ref name=MSW3/>

* ''P. c. concolor'' {{small|(Linnaeus, 1771)}} includes the [[Synonym (taxonomy)|synonyms]] ''bangsi'', ''incarum'', ''osgoodi'', ''soasoaranna'', ''sussuarana'', ''soderstromii'', ''suçuaçuara'', and ''wavula''
* ''P. c. puma'' {{small|([[Juan Ignacio Molina|Molina]], 1782)}} includes the synonyms ''araucanus'', ''concolor'', ''patagonica'', ''pearsoni'', and ''puma'' {{small|([[Édouard Louis Trouessart|Trouessart]], 1904)}}
* ''P. c. couguar'' {{small|([[Robert Kerr (writer)|Kerr]], 1792)}} includes ''arundivaga'', ''aztecus'', ''browni'', ''californica'', ''floridana'', ''hippolestes'', ''improcera'', ''kaibabensis'', ''mayensis'', ''missoulensis'', ''olympus'', ''oregonensis'', ''schorgeri'', ''stanleyana'', ''vancouverensis'', and ''youngi''
* ''P. c. costaricensis'' {{small|([[Clinton Hart Merriam|Merriam]], 1901)}}
* ''P. c. anthonyi'' {{small|([[Edward William Nelson|Nelson]] and [[Edward Alphonso Goldman|Goldman]], 1931)}} includes ''acrocodia'', ''borbensis'', ''capricornensis'', ''concolor'', ''greeni'', and ''nigra''
* ''P. c. cabrerae'' {{small|[[Reginald Innes Pocock|Pocock]], 1940}} includes ''hudsonii'' and ''puma'' proposed by Marcelli in 1922
In 2006, the Florida panther was still referred to as a distinct subspecies ''P. c. coryi'' in research works.<ref name=improving>{{cite journal |first=M. J. |last=Conroy |author2=Beier, P. |author3=Quigley, H. |author4=Vaughan, M. R. |year=2006 |title=Improving The Use Of Science In Conservation: Lessons From The Florida Panther |journal=Journal of Wildlife Management |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=1–7 |doi=10.2193/0022-541X(2006)70[1:ITUOSI]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=85920592}}</ref>

{{as of|2017}}, the Cat Classification Taskforce of the Cat Specialist Group recognizes only two subspecies as [[Valid name (zoology)|valid]]:<ref name=Catsg2017>{{cite journal |author1=Kitchener, A. C. |author2=Breitenmoser-Würsten, C. |author3=Eizirik, E. |author4=Gentry, A. |author5=Werdelin, L. |author6=Wilting, A. |author7=Yamaguchi, N. |author8=Abramov, A. V. |author9=Christiansen, P. |author10=Driscoll, C. |author11=Duckworth, J. W. |author12=Johnson, W. |author13=Luo, S.-J. |author14=Meijaard, E. |author15=O'Donoghue, P. |author16=Sanderson, J. |author17=Seymour, K. |author18=Bruford, M. |author19=Groves, C. |author20=Hoffmann, M. |author21=Nowell, K. |author22=Timmons, Z. |author23=Tobe, S. |year=2017 |title=A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group |journal=Cat News |issue=Special Issue 11 |pages=33–34 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/32616/A_revised_Felidae_Taxonomy_CatNews.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=33 |access-date=September 3, 2020 |archive-date=July 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730142355/https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/32616/A_revised_Felidae_Taxonomy_CatNews.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=33 |url-status=live}}</ref>
*''[[South American cougar|P. c. concolor]]'' in South America, possibly excluding the region northwest of the Andes 
*''[[North American cougar|P. c. couguar]]'' in North and Central America and possibly northwestern South America