Editing Cougar (section)

===Evolution===
{{cladogram|title=
|caption=The ''Puma'' lineage of the family [[Felidae]], depicted along with closely related genera<ref name="bcw2">{{cite book |last1=Werdelin |first1=L. |last2=Yamaguchi |first2=N. |last3=Johnson |first3=W. E. |last4=O'Brien |first4=S. J. |chapter=Phylogeny and evolution of cats (Felidae) |name-list-style=amp |year=2010 |pages=59–82 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266755142 |editor1-last=Macdonald |editor1-first=D. W. |editor2-last=Loveridge |editor2-first=A. J. |title=Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-19-923445-5 |access-date=April 4, 2022 |archive-date=September 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925141956/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266755142 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|1={{clade | style=font-size:90%;line-height:100%;width:475px;
|1={{clade
   |1={{clade
      |1={{clade
         |label1=''Lynx'' lineage
         |1=''[[Lynx (genus)|Lynx]]''
         }}
      |2={{clade
         |1={{clade
            |label1=''Puma'' lineage
            |1={{clade
               |label1=''[[Acinonyx]]''
               |1=Cheetah ''A. jubatus'' [[File:Acinonyx jubatus (white background).jpg|60px|alt=Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)]]
               |2={{clade
                  |label1=''[[Puma (genus)|Puma]]''
                  |1='''Cougar''' [[File:Felis concolor - 1818-1842 - Print - Iconographia Zoologica - Special Collections University of Amsterdam -(white background).jpg|50px|alt=Cougar (Puma concolor)]]
                  |label2=''[[Herpailurus]]''
                  |2=[[Jaguarundi]] ''H. yagouaroundi'' [[File:Lydekker_-_Eyra_White_background.jpg|50px|alt=Jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi)]]
                  }}
               }}
            }}
         |2={{clade
            |label1=Domestic cat lineage
            |1=''[[Felis]]''
            |label2=Leopard cat lineage
            |2={{clade
               |1=''[[Otocolobus]]''
               |2=''[[Prionailurus]]''
               }}
            }}
         }}
      }}
   }}
}}
}}

The [[family (biology)|family]] [[Felidae]] is believed to have originated in Asia about 11 million years ago ([[myr|Mya]]). Taxonomic research on felids remains partial, and much of what is known about their evolutionary history is based on [[mitochondrial DNA]] analysis.<ref name="Johnson2006" /> Significant [[confidence intervals]] exist with suggested dates. In the latest [[genomic]] study of the Felidae, the common ancestor of today's ''[[Leopardus]]'', ''[[Lynx]]'', ''[[Puma (genus)|Puma]]'', ''[[Prionailurus]]'', and ''[[Felis]]'' lineages migrated across the [[Beringia|Bering land bridge]] into the Americas 8.0 to 8.5&nbsp;million years ago. The lineages subsequently diverged in that order.<ref name="Johnson2006">{{cite journal |author1=Johnson, W. E. |author2=Eizirik, E. |author3=Pecon-Slattery, J. |author4=Murphy, W. J. |author5=Antunes, A. |author6=Teeling, E. |author7=O'Brien, S. J. |name-list-style=amp |date=2006 |title=The Late Miocene radiation of modern Felidae: A genetic assessment |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=311 |issue=5757 |pages=73–77 |doi=10.1126/science.1122277 |pmid=16400146 |bibcode=2006Sci...311...73J |s2cid=41672825 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1230866 |access-date=July 12, 2019 |url-access= |archive-date=October 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004075725/https://zenodo.org/record/1230866 |url-status=live}}</ref> North American felids then invaded South America 2–4{{nbsp}}Mya as part of the [[Great American Interchange]], following the formation of the [[Isthmus of Panama]].<ref name="Culver" />

The cheetah lineage is suggested by some studies to have diverged from the ''Puma'' lineage in the Americas and migrated back to Asia and Africa,<ref name="Johnson2006" /><ref name="Culver" /> while other research suggests the cheetah diverged in the [[Old World]] itself.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Ross, B. |author2=Barnes, I. |author3=Phillips, M. J. |author4=Martin, L D. |author5=Harington, C. R. |author6=Leonard, J. A. |author7=Cooper, A. |name-list-style=amp |date=2005 |title=Evolution of the extinct Sabretooths and the American cheetah-like cat |journal=Current Biology |volume=15 |issue=15 |pages=R589–R590 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2005.07.052 |pmid=16085477 |s2cid=17665121|doi-access=free |bibcode=2005CBio...15.R589B}}</ref> A high level of genetic similarity has been found among North American cougar populations, suggesting they are all fairly recent descendants of a small ancestral group. Culver et al. propose the original North American cougar population was [[Local extinction|extirpated]] during the [[Pleistocene extinctions]] some 10,000 years ago, when other large mammals, such as ''[[Smilodon]]'', also disappeared. North America was then repopulated by [[South American cougar]]s.<ref name="Culver" />

A [[coprolite]] identified as from a cougar was [[Excavation (archaeology)|excavated]] in Argentina's [[Catamarca Province]] and dated to 17,002–16,573 years old. It contained ''[[Toxascaris leonina]]'' eggs. This finding indicates that the cougar and the parasite have existed in South America since at least the [[Late Pleistocene]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Petrigh, R. S. |author2=Martínez, J. G. |author3=Mondini, M. |author4=Fugassa, M. H. |name-list-style=amp |year=2019 |title=Ancient parasitic DNA reveals ''Toxascaris leonina'' presence in Final Pleistocene of South America |journal=Parasitology |volume=146 |issue=10 |pages=1284–1288 |doi=10.1017/S0031182019000787 |pmid=31196226 |doi-access=free |hdl=11336/177873 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> The oldest fossil record of a cougar (''Puma concolor'') in South America (Argentina) is a partial skull from the late [[Calabrian (stage)|Calabrian]] ([[Ensenadan]]) age.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chimento |first1=N.R. |last2=Dondas |first2=A. |title=First record of ''Puma concolor'' (Mammalia, Felidae) in the Early-Middle Pleistocene of South America |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |date=2018 |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=381–389 |doi=10.1007/s10914-017-9385-x |s2cid=16249074|hdl=11336/48212 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>