Editing Cougar (section)

==Characteristics==
{{multiple image |align=right |direction=vertical |image1=Cougarskull.jpg |caption1=Cougar skull and jawbone |image2=Cougar track.jpg |caption2=Front paw print of a cougar}}

The head of the cougar is round, and the ears are erect. Its powerful forequarters, neck, and jaw serve to grasp and hold large prey. It has four retractile claws on its hind paws and five on its forepaws, of which one is a [[dewclaw]]. The larger front feet and claws are adaptations for clutching prey.<ref name="WhosWho">{{cite web |url=http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?pid=1&id=87&cid=8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070518235841/http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?pid=1&id=87&cid=8 |archive-date=May 18, 2007 |title=Cougar |work=Hinterland Who's Who |access-date=May 22, 2007 |publisher=[[Canadian Wildlife Service]] and [[Canadian Wildlife Federation]]}}</ref>

Cougars are slender and agile members of [[Felidae]]. They are the fourth largest cat species;<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20101121100620/http://cougarnet.org/cougarfacts.html Expanding Cougar Population]. The Cougar Net.org</ref> adults stand about {{cvt|60|to|90|cm}} tall at the shoulders.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120323144937/http://www.floridapanther.org/panther_facts.html Florida Panther Facts]. Florida Panther Refuge</ref> Adult males are around {{cvt|2.4|m}} long from nose to tail tip, and females average {{cvt|2.05|m}}, with overall ranges between {{cvt|1.50|to|2.75|m}} nose to tail suggested for the species in general.<ref name="Texas">{{cite web |url=http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/mlion/ |title=Mountain Lion (''Puma concolor'') |access-date=March 30, 2007 |publisher=Texas Parks and Wildlife |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070403213038/http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/mlion/ |archive-date=April 3, 2007}}</ref><ref name="NY">{{cite web |url=http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/6974.html |title=Eastern Cougar Fact Sheet |access-date=March 30, 2007 |publisher=New York State Department of Environmental Conservat ion |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071229075135/http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/6974.html |archive-date=December 29, 2007}}</ref> Of this length, the tail typically accounts for {{cvt|63|to|95|cm}}.<ref name="ADW">Shivaraju, A. (2003) [http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Puma_concolor.html ''Puma concolor''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606152055/http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Puma_concolor.html |date=June 6, 2009}}. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Retrieved on September 15, 2011.</ref> Males generally weigh {{cvt|53|to|72|kg}}. Females typically weigh between {{cvt|34|and|48|kg}}.<ref name="ADW" /><ref name="CAP">{{Cite web |author1=Nowell, K. |author2=Jackson, P. |name-list-style=amp |title=Wild Cats. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan |publisher=IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland |year=1996 |url=http://carnivoractionplans1.free.fr/wildcats.pdf |access-date=July 27, 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807215533/http://carnivoractionplans1.free.fr/wildcats.pdf |archive-date=August 7, 2007}}</ref> Cougar size is smallest close to the [[equator]] and larger towards the [[Polar region|poles]].<ref name="diet">{{cite journal |author1=Iriarte, J. A. |author2=Franklin, W. L. |author3=Johnson, W. E. |author4=Redford, K. H. |year=1990 |title=Biogeographic variation of food habits and body size of the America puma |journal=[[Oecologia]] |volume=85 |issue=2 |pages=185–190 |doi=10.1007/BF00319400 |pmid=28312554 |bibcode=1990Oecol..85..185I |s2cid=10134066}}</ref> The largest recorded cougar, shot in 1901, weighed {{cvt|105.2|kg}}; claims of {{cvt|125.2|kg}} and {{cvt|118|kg}} have been reported, though they were probably exaggerated.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hornocker |first=Maurice |date=2010 |title=Cougar : ecology and conservation |url=http://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/clc/1941110 |publisher=Chicago [etc.] : University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0226353449}}</ref> Male cougars in North America average {{cvt|62|kg}}, while the average female in the same region averages about {{cvt|42|kg}}.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Beler |first=Paul |title=puma |url=https://www.britannica.com/animal/puma-mammal-species |encyclopedia=Britannica|access-date=October 2, 2023|archive-date=October 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006055338/https://www.britannica.com/animal/puma-mammal-species|url-status=live}}</ref> On average, adult male cougars in British Columbia weigh {{cvt|56.7|kg}} and adult females {{cvt|45.4|kg}}, though several male cougars in British Columbia weighed between {{cvt|86.4|and|95.5|kg}}.<ref>{{cite web |last=Spalding |first=D. J. |title=Cougar in British Columbia |url=http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/cougar.htm |work=British Columbia Fish and Wildlife Branch|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824110816/http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/cougar.htm|archive-date=August 24, 2011|access-date=June 5, 2011}}</ref>

Depending on the locality, cougars can be smaller or bigger than jaguars but are less muscular and not as powerfully built, so on average, their weight is less. Whereas the size of cougars tends to increase as much as distance from the equator increases,<ref name="diet" /> which crosses the northern portion of South America, jaguars are generally smaller north of the [[Amazon River]] in South America and larger south of it. For example, while South American jaguars are comparatively large, and may exceed {{cvt|90|kg}},<ref name="FrancisIserson2015">{{cite journal |author1=Francis, Adama M. |author2=Iserson, K. V. |year=2015 |title=Jaguar Attack on a Child: Case Report and Literature Review |journal=Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=303–309 |doi=10.5811/westjem.2015.1.24043 |pmc=4380383 |pmid=25834674}}</ref> North American jaguars in Mexico's [[Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve]] weigh approximately {{cvt|50|kg}}, about the same as female cougars.<ref name="Foodhabits">{{cite journal |author1=Nuanaez R. |author2=Miller, B. |author3=Lindzey F. |name-list-style=amp |year=2000 |title=Food habits of jaguars and pumas in Jalisco, Mexico |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=252 |issue=3 |pages=373–379 |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=58851 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2000.tb00632.x |access-date=May 20, 2007 |archive-date=August 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810211518/http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=58851 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Cougar coloring is plain (hence the Latin ''concolor'' ["one color"] in the scientific name) but can vary greatly across individuals and even siblings. The coat is typically tawny, but it ranges from silvery-grey to reddish with lighter patches on the underbody, including the jaws, chin, and throat. Infants are spotted and born with blue eyes and rings on their tails;<ref name="CAP" /> juveniles are pale, and dark spots remain on their flanks.<ref name="NY" /> A [[leucistic]] individual was seen in [[Serra dos Órgãos National Park]] in Rio de Janeiro in 2013 when it was recorded by a camera trap, indicating that pure white individuals do exist within the species, though they are extremely rare.<ref name="Branco">{{cite web |url=https://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/quando-o-pardo-e-branco/ |title=Quando o pardo é branco |date=2019 |work=revistapesquisa.fapesp.br |location=Brazil |language=pt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807222632/https://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/quando-o-pardo-e-branco/ |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |access-date=August 18, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dell'amore |first=Christine |date=December 3, 2020 |title=Extremely rare white cougar highlights a quirk of the species |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/extrremely-rare-white-cougar-highlights-quirk-of-species?loggedin=true&rnd=1690918501116 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801194030/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/extrremely-rare-white-cougar-highlights-quirk-of-species?loggedin=true&rnd=1690918501116 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 1, 2023 |access-date=August 1, 2023 |website=National Geographic}}</ref> 

The cougar has large paws and proportionally the largest hind legs in Felidae,<ref name="CAP" /> allowing for great leaping and powerful short sprints. It can leap from the ground up to {{cvt|5.5|m}} high into a tree.<ref name="Nowak, 1999">{{cite book |title=Walker's Mammals of the World |volume=1 |last=Nowak |first=R. M. |year=1999 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |location=Baltimore |isbn=0-8018-5789-9 |page=818}}</ref>